Effects of dietary forage-to-concentrate ratio and forage type on milk phospholipids and fatty acid composition of polar lipids.

The effects of grass silage and red clover silage on milk fatty acid (FA) composition are extensively studied, but little is known of their effects on minor lipid constituents of milk fat globule membrane. We investigated the effects of forage:concentrate (FC) ratio in grass silage-based diets and forage type (grass silage vs. red clover silage) on selected molecular species of milk phospholipids (PL) and the FA composition of PL. Ten multiparous Nordic Red cows were offered following dietary treatments: grass silage-based diets containing 70:30 (HG) or 30:70 (LG) FC ratio or a red clover silage-based diet (RC) comprising 50:50 FC ratio on a dry matter basis. The most abundant molecular species within the phosphatidylcholines was 16:0-18:1 phosphatidylcholine that was increased by 18% in HG compared with LG milk. Dietary treatments did not affect the relative proportion of 18:1-18:1+18:0-18:2 phosphatidylethanolamine that was the most prevalent species (ca. 44%-45%) in that class. We identified the d18:1-22:0 sphingomyelin as the most abundant sphingomyelin species that tended to increase in HG milk compared with LG. The FC ratio did not affect the relative proportions of saturated FA nor monounsaturated FA in PL, but the proportion of cis-9 18:1 was elevated in HG versus LG milk, whereas the proportion of 18:2n-6 was 50% higher in LG versus HG milk. The RC diet increased monounsaturated FA and 18:3n-3 levels in PL compared with grass silage-based diets and decreased the relative proportion of saturated FA. However, the RC diet did not affect the relative proportion of polyunsaturated FA in PL, although red clover silage typically increases the proportion of polyunsaturated FA in milk fat. This study provides valuable knowledge of the minor lipid components in milk on species level in relation to common feeding strategies in high-forage systems.

The effect of dietary forage to concentrate ratio and forage type on milk fatty acid composition and milk fat globule size of lactating cows.

We examined the effects of 2 grass silage-based diets differing in forage:concentrate (FC) ratio and those of a red clover silage-based diet on intake, milk production, ruminal fatty acid (FA) biohydrogenation, milk FA composition, and milk fat globule (MFG) size distribution. Ten multiparous Nordic Red cows received the following treatments: grass silage-based diets containing high (70:30, HG) or low (30:70, LG) FC ratio or a red clover silage-based diet with an FC ratio of 50:50 (RC) on a dry matter basis. Determinations of MFG were performed from fresh milk samples without addition of EDTA so the results of fat globules >1 µm in diameter are emphasized instead of the entire globule population. Lower FC ratio in grass silage-based diets increased milk production with no effect on daily fat yield, leading to 13% lower milk fat concentration. The effect of FC ratio on MFG size was moderate. It did not affect the volume-weighted diameter in grass silage-based diets, although LG lowered the volume-surface diameter of MFG in the size class >1 µm compared with HG. Compared with HG, feeding LG moderately decreased the biohydrogenation of 18:2n-6, leading to a higher level of polyunsaturated fatty acids in milk fat. Feeding RC lowered milk fat concentration and daily milk fat yield compared with grass silage-based diets. The volume-weighted diameter of MFG in the size class >1 µm was smaller in RC milk compared with grass silage-based diets. Feeding RC increased the flow of 18:3n-3 at the omasum by 2.4-fold and decreased the apparent ruminal 18:3n-3 biohydrogenation compared with grass silage-based diets despite similar intake of 18:3n-3. It also resulted in the lowest amount of saturated FA and the highest amounts of cis-9 18:1, 18:3n-3, and polyunsaturated FA in milk. In conclusion, LG decreased milk fat content and induced minor changes in MFG size distribution compared with HG, whereas RC lowered milk fat production, altered milk FA composition to nutritionally more beneficial direction, and led to smaller MFG compared with grass silage-based diets.

Quantitative trait loci for fertility traits in Finnish Ayrshire cattle.

A whole genome scan was carried out to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for fertility traits in Finnish Ayrshire cattle. The mapping population consisted of 12 bulls and 493 sons. Estimated breeding values for days open, fertility treatments, maternal calf mortality and paternal non-return rate were used as phenotypic data. In a granddaughter design, 171 markers were typed on all 29 bovine autosomes. Associations between markers and traits were analysed by multiple marker regression. Multi-trait analyses were carried out with a variance component based approach for the chromosomes and trait combinations, which were observed significant in the regression method. Twenty-two chromosome-wise significant QTL were detected. Several of the detected QTL areas were overlapping with milk production QTL previously identified in the same population. Multi-trait QTL analyses were carried out to test if these effects were due to a pleiotropic QTL affecting fertility and milk yield traits or to linked QTL causing the effects. This distinction could only be made with confidence on BTA1 where a QTL affecting milk yield is linked to a pleiotropic QTL affecting days open and fertility treatments.