Role of Different Members of the Gene Family in Milk Fat Synthesis in .

During triacylglycerol synthesis, the acylglycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (AGPAT) family catalyzes the conversion of lysophosphatidic acid to phosphatidic acid and the acylation of sn-2 fatty acids. However, the catalytic activity of different AGPAT members is different. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the mechanism through which different s affect the efficiency of TAG synthesis and fatty acid composition. The conservation of amino acid sequences and protein domains of the AGPAT family was analyzed, and the functions of , , and genes in buffalo mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) were studied using RNA interference and gene overexpression. Prediction of the protein tertiary structure of the AGPAT family demonstrated that four conservative motifs (motif1, motif2, motif3, and motif6) formed a hydrophobic pocket in AGPAT proteins, except AGPAT6. According to cytological studies, , , and were found to promote the synthesis and fatty acid compositions of triacylglycerol, especially UFA compositions of triacylglycerol, by regulating , , , , and gene expression. This study provides new insights into the role of different gene family members involved in TAG synthesis, and a reference for improving the fatty acid composition of milk.