Belgian Blue

About: Belgian Blue is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 347 publications have been published within this topic receiving 11710 citations.

Double muscling in cattle due to mutations in the myostatin gene

Abstract: Myostatin (GDF-8) is a member of the transforming growth factor beta superfamily of secreted growth and differentiation factors that is essential for proper regulation of skeletal muscle mass in mice. Here we report the myostatin sequences of nine other vertebrate species and the identification of mutations in the coding sequence of bovine myostatin in two breeds of double-muscled cattle, Belgian Blue and Piedmontese, which are known to have an increase in muscle mass relative to conventional cattle. The Belgian Blue myostatin sequence contains an 11-nucleotide deletion in the third exon which causes a frameshift that eliminates virtually all of the mature, active region of the molecule. The Piedmontese myostatin sequence contains a missense mutation in exon 3, resulting in a substitution of tyrosine for an invariant cysteine in the mature region of the protein. The similarity in phenotypes of double-muscled cattle and myostatin null mice suggests that myostatin performs the same biological function in these two species and is a potentially useful target for genetic manipulation in other farm animals.

A deletion in the bovine myostatin gene causes the double-muscled phenotype in cattle.

Abstract: An exceptional muscle development commonly referred to as 'double-muscled' (Fig. 1) has been seen in several cattle breeds and has attracted considerable attention from beef producers. Double-muscled animals are characterized by an increase in muscle mass of about 20%, due to general skeletal-muscle hyperplasia-that is, an increase in the number of muscle fibers rather than in their individual diameter. Although the hereditary nature of the double-muscled condition was recognized early on, the precise mode of inheritance has remained controversial; monogenic (domainant and recessive), oligogenic and polygenic models have been proposed. In the Belgian Blue cattle breed (BBCB), segregation analysis performed both in experimental crosses and in the outbred population suggested an autosomal recessive inheritance. This was confirmed when the muscular hypertrophy (mh) locus was mapped 3.1 cM from microsatellite TGLA44 on the centromeric end of bovine chromosome 2 (ref. 5). We used a positional candidate approach to demonstrate that a mutation in bovine MSTN, which encodes myostatin, a member of the TGF beta superfamily, is responsible for the double-muscled phenotype. We report an 11-bp deletion in the coding sequence for the bioactive carboxy-terminal domain of the protein causing the muscular hypertrophy observed in Belgian Blue cattle.

Mutations in myostatin (GDF8) in Double-Muscled Belgian Blue and Piedmontese Cattle

Abstract: A visibly distinct muscular hypertrophy (mh), commonly known as double muscling, occurs with high frequency in the Belgian Blue and Piedmontese cattle breeds. The autosomal recessive mh locus causing double-muscling condition in these cattle maps to bovine chromosome 2 within the same interval as myostatin, a member of the TGF-beta superfamily of genes. Because targeted disruption of myostatin in mice results in a muscular phenotype very similar to that seen in double-muscled cattle, we have evaluated this gene as a candidate gene for double-muscling condition by cloning the bovine myostatin cDNA and examining the expression pattern and sequence of the gene in normal and double-muscled cattle. The analysis demonstrates that the levels and timing of expression do not appear to differ between Belgian Blue and normal animals, as both classes show expression initiating during fetal development and being maintained in adult muscle. Moreover, sequence analysis reveals mutations in heavy-muscled cattle of both breeds. Belgian Blue cattle are homozygous for an 11-bp deletion in the coding region that is not detected in cDNA of any normal animals examined. This deletion results in a frame-shift mutation that removes the portion of the Myostatin protein that is most highly conserved among TGF-beta family members and that is the portion targeted for disruption in the mouse study. Piedmontese animals tested have a G-A transition in the same region that changes a cysteine residue to a tyrosine. This mutation alters one of the residues that are hallmarks of the TGF-beta family and are highly conserved during evolution and among members of the gene family. It therefore appears likely that the mh allele in these breeds involves mutation within the myostatin gene and that myostatin is a negative regulator of muscle growth in cattle as well as mice.

Quantitative trait loci affecting growth and carcass composition of cattle segregating alternate forms of myostatin.

Abstract: The effects of the bovine myostatin gene on chromosome 2 on birth and carcass traits have been previously assessed. The objective of this study was to identify additional quantitative trait loci (QTL) for economically important traits in two families segregating an inactive copy of myostatin. Two half-sib families were developed from Belgian Blue x MARC III (n = 246) and Piedmontese x Angus (n = 209) sires. Traits analyzed were birth (kg) and yearling weight (kg); hot carcass weight (kg); fat depth (cm); marbling score; longissimus muscle area (cm2); estimated kidney, pelvic, and heart fat (%); USDA yield grade; retail product yield (%); fat yield (%); and wholesale rib-fat yield (%). Meat tenderness was measured as Warner-Bratzler shear force at 3 and 14 d postmortem. The effect of myostatin on these traits was removed by using phase information obtained from the previous study with six microsatellite markers flanking the locus. Selective genotyping was done on 92 animals from both families to identify genomic regions potentially associated with retail product yield and fat depth, using a total of 150 informative markers in each family. Regions in which selective genotyping indicated the presence of QTL were evaluated further by genotyping the entire population and additional markers. For the family with Belgian Blue inheritance (n = 246), a significant QTL for birth and yearling weight was identified on chromosome 6. Suggestive QTL were identified for longissimus muscle area and hot carcass weight on chromosome 6 and for marbling on chromosomes 17 and 27. For the family with Piedmontese inheritance (n = 209), suggestive QTL on chromosome 5 were identified for fat depth, retail product yield, and USDA yield grade and on chromosome 29 for Warner-Bratzler shear force at 3 and 14 d postmortem. Interactions suggesting the presence of QTL were observed between myostatin and chromosome 5 for Warner-Bratzler shear force at 14 d postmortem and between myostatin and chromosome 14 for fat depth. Thus, in families segregating an inactive copy of myostatin in cattle, other loci influencing quantitative traits can be detected. These results are the initial effort to identify and characterize QTL affecting carcass and growth traits in families segregating myostatin.

Growth- and breed-related changes of muscle fiber characteristics in cattle.

Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the growth- and breed-related changes of muscle fiber characteristics in cattle and their importance to meat quality Four cattle breeds with different growth impetus and muscularity were reared and slaughtered under experimental conditions German Angus as a beef type, Galloway as a hardy type, Holstein Friesian as a dairy type, and double-muscled Belgian Blue as an extreme type for muscle growth were used Between 5 and 17 bulls of each breed were slaughtered at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18, and 24 mo of age Muscle fiber traits were determined and classified by computerized image analysis, and several measures of meat quality were also determined, including shear force value, meat color, and im fat content The postnatal growth of semitendinosus muscle in cattle was characterized by a nearly 10-fold increase of muscle fiber area from birth to 24 mo of age In the first few months after birth, a transformation of type IIA fibers into IIB fibers was found, whereas type I fibers were nearly unaffected by age The apparent total muscle fiber number of semitendinosus muscle did not increase during postnatal life These results confirm that the fiber number is determined in embryonic development Throughout the study, the double-muscled Belgian Blue (BBDM) bulls had almost twice the fiber number of the other breeds, emphasizing a more extensive hyperplasia of muscle fibers during embryonic development in BBDM compared with the other three breeds The apparent number of type I fibers was, however, not affected by breed, which suggests that the additional fibers found in BBDM postnatally were type IIB and IIA fibers We did not find significant differences in muscle fiber total number, muscle fiber type frequencies, or meat quality characteristics among breeds, with the exception of BBDM Having pooled the four breeds, paler meat was related to a higher frequency of type IIB fibers, a lower area of type IIA and type I fiber, and a higher total muscle fiber number These findings based on data of double muscling give us some hints for biological causes for the variation of meat quality Further investigation, in particular within each breed, is necessary to identify the superior fiber traits for bovine meat production