Differences in mRNA lipogenic gene expression in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of sheep and goats under the same dietary treatments

An experiment was conducted with 12 lactating dairy ewes and 12 goats with the objective to determine if there are differences between them in lipogenic genes [acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid synthetase (FAS), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) and leptin (LEP)] in their subcutaneous adipose tissue (SUBQ) under the same dietary treatments.The animals were fed with two diets (A, B) in different days of milk (DIM) due to the different milk yield, body weight, etc. in order to have the same food intake and to avoid dietary effects. Diet A with a forage/concentrate (F/C) ratio 53/47 on dry matter basis, was offered to each group of sheep and goats from DIM = 105 to DIM = 126, and from DIM = 63 to DIM = 84, respectively. Diet B with a F/C ratio 49/51 on dry matter basis, was offered to sheep and goats individually from DIM = 140 to DIM = 161 and from DIM = 98 to DIM = 119, respectively.The results showed that the mRNA of ACC was significantly lower in sheep SUBQ while the mRNA of LPL, SCD and LEP were higher compared with those of goats independently from the fed diet and the different DIM. In conclusion, there are significant species differences between sheep and goats in the lipogenic gene mRNA expression of SUBQ under the same dietary treatments.