Phenotypic and genetic associations of milk traits with milk coagulation properties

The aim of this study was to examine milk composition and rennet-induced coagulation properties of milk from 892 individual Danish Holstein and Danish Jersey cows and determine the genetic influences on these properties by determining heritability and genomic correlations with single nucleotide polymorphisms identified by the bovine HD Beadchip (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA). Despite no signs of clinical mastitis, milk from cows with somatic cell counts >500,000 cells/mL showed altered milk composition, indicating impaired barrier between the milk and the blood. Curd-firming rate (CFR) and rennet coagulation time (RCT) were used to describe milk coagulation properties (MCP). These traits describe the second phase of milk coagulation and were mutually negatively correlated, but only to some extent associated with the same compositional traits. In both breeds, CFR were highly correlated with protein content, whereas longer RCT were primarily associated with lower milk pH. Estimated heritabilities for milk production and compositional traits ranged from 0.09 for yield to 0.82 for citric acid in Danish Jersey cows, and from 0.21 for yield to 0.59 for citric acid in Danish Holstein cows. Heritabilities for MCP traits varied considerably between breeds, and were estimated to be 0.28 for RCT and 0.75 for CFR in Danish Holstein cows and 0.45 for RCT and 0.15 for CFR in Danish Jersey cows. This difference was further reflected in the genomic correlations between RCT and CFR which was −0.90 in Danish Holstein and 0.06 in Danish Jersey. These data suggest that potential for changing MCP through breeding exists, but the genetic background of the MCP traits might be different in different breeds; therefore, using Danish Holstein as background for Danish Jersey is not trivial. Thereby, the study underlines the need for breed-specific models.