Effect of LEPR, ABCG2 and SCD1 gene polymorphisms on reproductive traits in the Iranian Holstein cattle.

During the last decades, genetic selection for milk production traits has led to increased fertility and health problems in dairy cattle. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of three polymorphisms located in the ATP-binding cassette superfamily G member 2 transporter (ABCG2), stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) and leptin receptor (LEPR) genes on reproductive traits and somatic cell count (SCC). The analysis was conducted on 408 randomly selected cows. The SNPs within the genes (LEPR, ABCG2 and SCD1) were genotyped using the PCR-RFLP method. All three possible genotypes were observed for SCD1-T878C and LEPR-T945M SNPs, but not for ABCG2-Y581S SNP. LEPR-T945M and ABCG2-Y581S SNPs had no statistically significant effect on the studied reproductive traits and SCC. However, SCD1-T878C SNP were negatively and significantly related to pregnancy length, dry days and open days (p < 0.05), which lead to decreased profitability in dairy herds. The results suggest that the T878C SNP of SCD1 might be useful as a DNA marker to decrease reproductive problems and improve production traits in Iranian Holstein dairy cows.