Estimation of individual somatic cell counts using single nucleotide polymorphisms from bulk milk samples

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Veterinary Medicine
• Genetics

Background:

• Somatic cell count (SCC) is crucial for assessing dairy cow udder health.
• Traditional SCC assessment requires individual milk sampling, which is labor-intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate the Genocells method for estimating individual cow SCC from bulk milk.
• To compare the accuracy and efficiency of Genocells against traditional individual sampling.

Main Methods:

• Utilized DNA chip technology and existing genotyping data for cow identification within bulk milk.
• Analyzed multiple bulk milk samples to determine optimal sampling strategy.
• Compared Genocells-derived SCC values with those from routine individual milk samples.

Main Results:

• The Genocells method demonstrated high reliability in intra-assay comparisons.
• Significant differences in SCC were only observed below 100,000 cells/mL compared to individual samples.
• 81.5% of Genocells results matched the SCC class of individual samples collected concurrently.

Conclusions:

• The Genocells method offers a promising, less labor-intensive alternative for monitoring individual udder health in dairy herds.
• This novel approach simplifies SCC assessment by enabling individual cow data from a single bulk milk sample.