Gene markers of the productive characteristics of dairy cattle (review)
The most economically important productive characteristics that contribute to the development of the dairy industry are milk yield, milk fat and protein production, as well as the percentage of these indicators. In recent years, cattle breeding programs based on molecular genetic research methods have attracted great attention. The strategy of the candidate gene allows you to focus the analysis on specific genes involved in key metabolic pathways or physiological processes that can affect the features of interest. The main ones are genes encoding proteins and participating in lactation processes, as well as genes that regulate these processes. The review provides a brief description of the genes encoding caseins of milk, the polymorphisms of which affect the protein and fat content in milk, which has an important role in the production of cheese. Genes encoding factors governing the expression of milk protein are also described. These include prolactin, which affects milk yield, growth hormone, which plays a key role in lactation, diacylglycerol-acyltransferase 1, which is a key enzyme for the synthesis of triacylglycerols, the main fraction of milk fat, leptin, which is involved in the regulation of prolactin secretion, and some others.