The coat colour of animals is an extremely important trait that affects their behaviour and is decisive for survival in the natural environment. The trait serves to distinguish between breeds and varieties. Coat colour is also an important economic trait. Understanding the genetic background of variation in one of the most important phenotypic traits in livestock would help to identify new genes that have a great effect on the coat colour type.

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 is a critical enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the level of mRNA of SCD1 gene in three different ovine tissues strongly associated with lipid homeostasis. The significant correlation between SCD1 transcript abundance and fattening and slaughtering traits (fatness traits) indicates the ability to improve important production traits in sheep via modification of expression of SCD1 gene.