Genetics and analysis of quantitative traits

Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve their welfare.

http://www2.kobe-u.ac.jp/~toyoda/beef/BEEF/Ref/beef%20production_fat.pdf

Innovations in beef production systems that enhance the nutritional and health value of beef lipids and their relationship with meat quality.

The imprints of domestication and breed development on the genomes of livestock likely differ from those of companion animals. A deep draft sequence assembly of shotgun reads from a single Hereford female and comparative sequences sampled from six additional breeds were used to develop probes to interrogate 37,470 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 497 cattle from 19 geographically and biologically diverse breeds. These data show that cattle have undergone a rapid recent decrease in effective population size from a very large ancestral population, possibly due to bottlenecks associated with domestication, selection, and breed formation. Domestication and artificial selection appear to have left detectable signatures of selection within the cattle genome, yet the current levels of diversity within breeds are at least as great as exists within humans.

/pdf/genome-wide-survey-of-snp-variation-uncovers-the-genetic-1cyjfj0k19.pdf

Genome-Wide Survey of SNP Variation Uncovers the Genetic Structure of Cattle Breeds

Consumer preference, behavior and perception about meat and meat products: an overview.

Inhibition of protease activity. Part 1. The effect on tenderness and indicators of proteolysis in ovine muscle.

The effect of fasting on liveweight and carcass characteristics in lambs.

The effect of type of lambs and hoggets on eating quality was evaluated using the M. longissimus lumborum (LL) and the M. biceps femoris (BF) from 210 animals. The animals comprised 7 types as follows: Poll Dorset or White Suffolk x (Border Leicester x Merino) (second cross unweaned lambs, mixed sex, 3-5 months of age); Poll Dorset x (Border Leicester x Merino) (second cross weaned lambs, mixed sex, 9-12 months of age); Border Leicester x Merino (BLM; first cross weaned lambs, mixed sex, 9 months of age); Poll Dorset or White Suffolk x Merino (PDM; first cross weaned lambs, wethers, 12 months of age); Merino x Merino (weaned wether lambs, 9-12 months of age); Border Leicester x Merino (BLM; first cross hoggets, mixed sex, 20 months of age); and Poll Dorset or White Suffolk x Merino (PDM; first cross hoggets, wethers, 16 months of age). The animals were sourced from a number of different properties in New South Wales (NSW) (n = 120) and Victoria (n = 90). Each carcass was subjected to high voltage stimulation (700 V) within 1 h of slaughter. All meat was aged for 5 days before freezing and was subsequently tested by consumers on a 0-100 scale for a number of attributes after cooking using a grilling procedure. The LL from sucker lambs had the lightest colour (highest L* values) with the hoggets having the darkest colour in the NSW group with differences less apparent in the Victorian group. Muscle from first cross and Merino weaned lambs had consistently higher pH levels across the 3 muscles tested (LL; M. semimembranosus; M. semitendinosus) for the NSW group with no differences detected in the Victorian group. LL meat from second cross sucker and first cross (BLM and PDM) weaned lambs had the highest overall liking score, with that from second cross weaned lambs, BLM hoggets and Merino lambs scored as intermediate, while meat from the PDM hogget group had the lowest overall liking score. A similar outcome was found for the other sensory attributes with differences between types being lower for juiciness compared with overall liking scores but they were of a similar ranking. For the BF there was some re-ranking of the overall liking scores compared with the LL, with meat from suckers and first cross PDM lambs and hoggets being intermediate in score while second cross weaned lambs and first cross BLM lambs had the highest scores. The BF from hoggets (BLM) and Merino lambs were given the lowest scores. The lower juiciness score for sucker BF contributed to this change in ranking compared with the LL.

Effect of sheep type on meat and eating quality of sheep meat

Summary
The objective of this study was to investigate an association between polymorphisms in the FABP4 gene and phenotypic variation for marbling and carcass weight (CWT) in a population of Hanwoo steers. We re-sequenced 4.3 kb of the FABP4 gene region in 24 Hanwoo bulls and identified 16 SNPs and 1 microsatellite polymorphism. Of these 16 SNPs, three SNPs [g.2774G>C (intron I), g.3473A>T (intron II) and g.3631G>A (exon III, creating a p.Met >Val amino acid substitution)] were genotyped in 583 steers to assess their association with carcass traits. The g.3473A allele showed a significant increasing effect on CWT (P = 0.01) and the g.3631G allele was associated with higher marbling score (P = 0.006). One haplotype of these three SNPs (CAG) was significantly associated with CWT (P = 0.02) and marbling score (P = 0.05) and could potentially be of value for marker assisted selection in Hanwoo cattle. The CAG haplotype effect for CWT was larger (11.14 ± 5.03 kg) than the largest single locus effect of g.3473A>T (5.01 ± 2.2 kg).

Genetic polymorphisms of the bovine Fatty acid binding protein 4 gene are significantly associated with marbling and carcass weight in Hanwoo (Korean Cattle)

John Mitchell Thompson

Papers

Inhibition of protease activity. Part 1. The effect on tenderness and indicators of proteolysis in ovine muscle.

The effect of fasting on liveweight and carcass characteristics in lambs.

Effect of sheep type on meat and eating quality of sheep meat

Genetic polymorphisms of the bovine Fatty acid binding protein 4 gene are significantly associated with marbling and carcass weight in Hanwoo (Korean Cattle)

The effect of degree of doneness of beef steaks on consumer acceptability of meals in restaurants