Random-effect meta-analysis of genetic parameter estimates for carcass and meat quality traits in beef cattle

Carcass and meat quality are two important attributes for the beef industry because they drive profitability and consumer demand. These traits are of even greater importance in crossbred cattle used in subtropical and tropical regions for their superior adaptability because they tend to underperform compared to their purebred counterparts. Many of these traits are challenging and expensive to measure and unavailable until late in life or after the animal is harvested, hence unrealistic to improve through traditional phenotypic selection, but perfect candidates for genomic selection. Before genomic selection can be implemented in crossbred populations, it is important to explore if pleiotropic effects exist between carcass and meat quality traits. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify genomic regions with pleiotropic effects on carcass and meat quality traits in a multibreed Angus–Brahman population that included purebred and crossbred animals. Data included phenotypes for 10 carcass and meat quality traits from 2,384 steers, of which 1,038 were genotyped with the GGP Bovine F-250. Single-trait genome-wide association studies were first used to investigate the relevance of direct additive genetic effects on each carcass, sensory and visual meat quality traits. A second analysis for each trait included all other phenotypes as covariates to correct for direct causal effects from identified genomic regions with pure direct effects on the trait under analysis. Five genomic windows on chromosomes BTA5, BTA7, BTA18, and BTA29 explained more than 1% of additive genetic variance of two or more traits. Moreover, three suggestive pleiotropic regions were identified on BTA10 and BTA19. The 317 genes uncovered in pleiotropic regions included anchoring and cytoskeletal proteins, key players in cell growth, muscle development, lipid metabolism and fat deposition, and important factors in muscle proteolysis. A functional analysis of these genes revealed GO terms directly related to carcass quality, meat quality, and tenderness in beef cattle, including calcium-related processes, cell signaling, and modulation of cell–cell adhesion. These results contribute with novel information about the complex genetic architecture and pleiotropic effects of carcass and meat quality traits in crossbred beef cattle.

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Genetic variability of meat quality traits in Chianina beef cattle

Italian Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4081/ijas.2004.191 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 191-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Francesca Cecchi ◽

Claudia Russo ◽

Giovanna Preziuso ◽

Dario Cianci

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variability ◽

Beef Cattle ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Meat Quality Traits

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Associations between UASMS2 polymorphism in leptin gene and growth, carcass and meat quality traits of cattle: a meta-analysis

Animal Biotechnology ◽

10.1080/10495398.2020.1805327 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Liyun Wang ◽

Sayed Haidar Abbas Raza ◽

Linsheng Gui ◽

Shijun Li ◽

Xuchun Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Meat Quality Traits

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Multi-breed and multi-trait co-association analysis of meat tenderness and other meat quality traits in three French beef cattle breeds

Genetics Selection Evolution ◽

10.1186/s12711-016-0216-y ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Yuliaxis Ramayo-Caldas ◽

Gilles Renand ◽

Maria Ballester ◽

Romain Saintilan ◽

Dominique Rocha

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Association Analysis ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Meat Tenderness ◽

Cattle Breeds ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

Beef Cattle Breeds ◽

French Beef

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Meat quality traits of longissimus thoracis, semitendinosus and triceps brachii muscles from Chianina beef cattle slaughtered at two different ages

Italian Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4081/ijas.2004.267 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 267-273 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Giovanna Preziuso ◽

Claudia Russo

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Triceps Brachii ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

Different Ages

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Genetic parameter estimation for reproductive traits in QingYu pigs and comparison of carcass and meat quality traits to Berkshire×QingYu crossbred pigs

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences ◽

10.5713/ajas.19.0105 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 (8) ◽

pp. 1224-1232

Author(s):

Jia Luo ◽

Yiting Yang ◽

Kun Liao ◽

Bin Liu ◽

Ying Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Birth Weight ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Genetic Parameter ◽

Reproductive Traits ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Weaning Weight ◽

Slaughter Weight ◽

Meat Quality Traits

Objective: The QingYu pig is well known for its excellent meat quality attributes in Sichuan province, China. In order to improve its production efficiency, the determination of genetic factors contributing to quantifiable economic traits of livestock is important. Moreover, the cross-breeding of QingYu pigs with western breeds possessing strong growth attributes is an efficient way to improve the performance of this breed.Methods: Here, the genetic parameters of several important reproductive traits of QingYu pigs were estimated, include total number born (TNB), number born alive, litter birth weight, individual birth weight, number of piglets weaned, litter weaning weight, and individual weaning weight. The data was analyzed using the ASReml 3.0 software (NSW Inc., Sydney, Australia). Furthermore, the effects of crossing Berkshire with QingYu (BQ) pigs on carcass and meat quality traits, as well as the effects of slaughter weight on carcass and meat quality of BQ were characterized.Results: QingYu pigs exhibited superior reproductive traits. The TNB available to QingYu pigs was more than 8 per parity. The observed repeatability of the reproductive traits of the QingYu pigs was between 0.10 and 0.23. The significantly correlated genetic and phenotypic of reproduction traits were consistent. Interestingly, the BQ pigs exhibited improved carcass quality, with a significant increase in loin muscle area, lean percentage and reduction in sebum percentage. As a result, BQ had higher L<sub>45min</sub>, lower cooking scores, and lower drip loss. In addition, the loin muscle area, body length, and sebum percentage were significantly higher in 90 and 100 kg animals. Cooking loss showed a significant increase at 80 kg, and marbling increased significantly from 90 kg.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that QingYu pigs exhibit excellent reproductive properties and heritability of these traits. Crossing with Berkshire is an efficient strategy to improve the carcass and meat quality of QingYu pigs for commercial operations. Furthermore, it appears as though the optimal slaughter weight of BQ pigs is at approximately 90 kg.

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Effects of crossing of domestic breed with beef breeds on the quality of meat in PR China and Republic of Serbia

Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry ◽

10.2298/bah1302385a ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 385-397

Author(s):

S. Aleksic ◽

Sun Fang ◽

Liu Di ◽

M.M. Petrovic ◽

V. Pantelic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Beef Production ◽

Cattle Breeds ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

Lean Beef ◽

Beef Cattle Breeds ◽

French Beef

This paper presents the results of crossing Domestic Spotted breed with beef cattle breeds in the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Serbia. China is a big country of beef production and consumption. In 2012, beef production in China was 5,540,000 tons, which accounted for 9.7% of the global beef production, ranking the third in the world. The main sources of China?s beef are from crossbreeding cattle (native breed crossbred with foreign beef cattle). Simmental cattle are the most-widely used beef cattle in China?s improved beef cattle. China has cultivated its own Simmental after over 40 years? crossbreeding and improvement. China?s consumers mainly have three demands for beef quality as follows: expensive beef produced from Wagyu crossbreed with better marbling; lean beef from Simmental, Charolais and Limousin crossbreeds, top parts supplied to hotels while common parts to supermarkets; veal from cow calves. Chinese researchers are carrying out researches which are centered on marbling beef, lean beef and veal on complete techniques of good breed, feeding management, slaughter and cutting and carcass classification. At present, researchers have lively interest in functional genomics of meat quality traits of cattle, they expect to use these methods to study meat quality traits and then improve the meat quality. Improved cattle breeds universally utilized in China are mainly Simmental followed by Charolais, Limousin, Wagyu and Angus. Other three cattle breeds including Belgian blue cattle, Piedmontese and Gelbvien have ever been applied, however, rarely used in present beef cattle production. Republic of Serbia has in the future to quickly and efficiently provide adequate quantities of top quality meat. One of the ways to increase the yield and quality of the meat is crossing of Domestic spotted cattle of lower production traits with French beef cattle breeds. Beef production in the EU is adapted to the consumer taste. Meat must have a light red colour, equally suffused with fat and with pronounced sensory characteristics such as tenderness, juiciness, flavour and aroma. The results on the quality of meat of F1 generation crosses (Domestic Spotted breed with French beef cattle breeds Charolais and Limousine) indicate that by industrial crossing beef, meat-packing and organoleptic characteristics of meat can be improved.

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