Preliminary analysis of Stearoyl Co-A Desaturase gene transcripts in River buffalo

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis ofmonounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). In cattle, SCD gene extends over a DNA segmentof ~17.0 Kb, and it is organized in 6 exons and 5 introns. The SCD gene has been indicatedas the candidate gene to change the saturated/unsaturated FAs ratio and hence it has beensuggested as the gene influencing the fat quality. In cattle, eight SNPs have been identifiedand one of them, (T->C) at 231st nt of 5th exon, is responsible for the Val->Ala amino acidchange. The C allele has been associated with higher content of MUFAs in carcasses, and itis positively related to a higher index of desaturation (C18:0/C18:1 and C16:0/C16:1) in themilk. In this study, we report on preliminary results of analysis of transcripts of the SCDencoding gene in river buffalo. The electrophoretic analysis of the RT-PCR products and thesubsequent sequencing showed at least five different populations of mRNA. The most representedpopulation is correctly assembled (~1300 bp), followed by the one which is deletedof ~750bp, corresponding to the 3rd, 4th and 5th exon and partially to the 2nd and 6th exon.