Expression of HSP70 genes in skin of zebu (Tharparkar) and crossbred (Karan Fries) cattle during different seasons under tropical climatic conditions.

Skin is most important environmental interface providing a protective envelope to animals. It's always under the influence of both internal and external stressors. Heat shock proteins (HSP) are highly conserved stress proteins which play crucial roles in environmental stress tolerance and thermal adaptation. Present study was planned to observe the relative mRNA expression of inducible (HSP70.1 and HSP70.2) and constitutive (HSP70.8) HSP in skin of zebu (Tharparkar) and crossbred (Karan Fries) cattle during different seasons. Skin biopsies were collected from rump region of each animal, aseptically during winter, spring and summer season. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction was performed to examine the gene expression of constitutive (HSP70.8) and inducible (HSP70.1 and HSP70.2) HSP in skin of both the breeds during different seasons. Present study observed higher expression of both constitutive and inducible HSP genes in both the breeds during summer and winter than spring season, but magnitude of increase was higher during summer than winter. During summer season, expression pattern of HSPs in skin showed breed differences, where constitutive HSP expression was higher in Tharparkar than Karan Fries and that of inducible HSP was higher in Karan Fries than Tharparkar. Hence, present study suggested that HSP may be conveniently used as biomarkers for assessing protective response of skin against heat stress in zebu and crossbred cattle. Variation in expression between breeds is associated with their heat tolerance and thermal adaptability. In summary, skin of zebu cattle (Tharparkar) is more resistant to summer stress than crossbred (Karan Fries), providing greater protection against heat stress during summer season. Superior skin protective mechanism of zebu (Tharparkar) than crossbred (Karan-Fries) cattle against heat stress may contribute to superior adaptability of zebu cattle to tropical climatic conditions than crossbreed.

Expression of skin color genes in lymphocytes of Karan Fries cattle and seasonal relationship with tyrosinase and cortisol.

To evaluate difference in the expression of skin color genes (melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) and premelanosome (PMEL)) in lymphocytes during winter and summer season and their correlation with tyrosinase enzyme and cortisol, ten Karan-Fries heifers were selected from National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) cattle farm. Blood samples were collected from the animals during winter (THI = 60) and summer (THI = 83) season at weekly intervals. Relative MC1R and PMEL messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of Karan Fries cattle was found to be significantly (P < 0.01) higher during winter than summer. Similarly, tyrosinase activity during winter was found to be significantly (P < 0.01) higher than summer season. However, plasma cortisol level was significantly (P < 0.01) higher during summer than winter. Thus, expression of the skin color genes showed positive correlation with tyrosinase enzyme, but negative correlation with cortisol level. Expression of MC1R and PMEL in lymphocytes and tyrosinase activity of Karan Fries cattle was highly reduced during summer. The present study showed that the ability of Karan Fries cattle to protect themselves from the harmful radiation of sunlight by melanization decreased with increased heat stress on them.