Association of the OPN and PPARGC1A Alleles with Milk Somatic Cell Count in Iranian Holstein cattle

Somatic cells are one of the milk components produced as a result of natural regeneration of the glandular tissue of mammary gland. The count of these cells in milk reflects the health state of cows; hence their level is an important indicator for improvement of livestock. In this study association between genotypes of genes located on BTA6 (OPN, PPARGC1A) and somatic cell count (SCC) in milk was investigated. Therefore, DNA was isolated from blood samples collected from 398 Holstein cows of Tehran and Esfahan provinces by salting out method. PCR-RFLP method was used for genotyping SNPs in genes. Linear models analysis with fixed effects of genotypes indicated significant associations between c.3359 genotypes of PPARGC1A gene and c.8514 genotypes of OPN gene with SCC (P