Effect of rearing diet and early post-weaning pasture quality on the life-time growth, meat quality, carcass traits and environmental impact of dairy-beef cattle

Context Nutrition in early life can affect the long-term performance of livestock. Aims The present study evaluated the effects of rearing Wagyu × Holstein Friesian heifer calves either on a concentrate pelleted starter (CS; 90% DM, 19.3% crude protein (CP), and 13.8 MJ metabolisable energy (ME) per kilogram DM) or a forage starter (FS, ensiled alfalfa, Medicago sativa; 45% DM, 18.5% CP and 9.7 MJ metabolisable energy per kilogram DM) on lifetime growth, blood metabolites, carcass traits and meat quality. Methods Calves (n = 60) were allocated either to CS or FS diets. All calves received their solid feeds ad libitum from Week 1 and were fed milk in group pens (n = 10/pen) at 4 L/calf.day until Week 7, then 2 L/calf.day for 2 weeks. Calves were transferred to pasture 1 week after milk removal, with starter feeds removed by Week 15. All heifers were then managed as one group on a pasture-based diet until slaughter at 26–30 months of age (average of 483 kg liveweight). Key results Calves offered the CS diet were 14 kg heavier than were calves on the FS diet at 15 weeks (P < 0.001). However, liveweight was similar between the groups by the time of slaughter (P > 0.1). All blood parameters studied were similar (P > 0.05) between the treatments at 12 months and at slaughter. Depth of eye muscle and subcutaneous fat, measured using ultrasonography before slaughter, carcass weight and meat pH, marbling, shear force, moisture loss during cooking, total fat and fat and meat colour were also similar between the treatments (P > 0.05). Some potential was found for using blood markers to predict carcass traits and meat quality. Conclusions Solid feed type during rearing had little effect on liveweight or meat characteristics from 12 months of age to slaughter of Wagyu × Friesian heifers. Implications Calves can be reared on FS diets with similar long-term production performance as on CS diets.

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Association between gene polymorphisms of propanoate metabolism pathway and meat quality as well as carcass traits in pigs

Hereditas (Beijing) ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1005.2012.00872 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 34 (7) ◽

pp. 872-878 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Fan YANG ◽

Qiong-Ping WANG ◽

Kan HE ◽

Ming-Hui WANG ◽

Yu-Chun PAN

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Gene Polymorphisms ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Metabolism Pathway

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Effects of slaughter age on carcass traits and meat quality of crossbred (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) finishing pigs

Animal Biotechnology ◽

10.1080/10495398.2021.1916512 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Zhongyang Guo ◽

Xiaoling Chen ◽

Daiwen Chen ◽

Mingzhou Li ◽

Jingdong Yin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Finishing Pigs ◽

Slaughter Age

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Genomic Prediction Using Alternative Strategies of Weighted Single-Step Genomic BLUP for Yearling Weight and Carcass Traits in Hanwoo Beef Cattle

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12020266 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 266

Author(s):

Hossein Mehrban ◽

Masoumeh Naserkheil ◽

Deuk Hwan Lee ◽

Chungil Cho ◽

Taejeong Choi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Trait Loci ◽

Beef Cattle ◽

Genomic Prediction ◽

Quantitative Trait ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Best Linear Unbiased Prediction ◽

Single Step ◽

Linear Unbiased Prediction ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Best Linear Unbiased

The weighted single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) method has been proposed to exploit information from genotyped and non-genotyped relatives, allowing the use of weights for single-nucleotide polymorphism in the construction of the genomic relationship matrix. The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of genetic prediction using the following single-trait best linear unbiased prediction methods in Hanwoo beef cattle: pedigree-based (PBLUP), un-weighted (ssGBLUP), and weighted (WssGBLUP) single-step genomic methods. We also assessed the impact of alternative single and window weighting methods according to their effects on the traits of interest. The data was comprised of 15,796 phenotypic records for yearling weight (YW) and 5622 records for carcass traits (backfat thickness: BFT, carcass weight: CW, eye muscle area: EMA, and marbling score: MS). Also, the genotypic data included 6616 animals for YW and 5134 for carcass traits on the 43,950 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The ssGBLUP showed significant improvement in genomic prediction accuracy for carcass traits (71%) and yearling weight (99%) compared to the pedigree-based method. The window weighting procedures performed better than single SNP weighting for CW (11%), EMA (11%), MS (3%), and YW (6%), whereas no gain in accuracy was observed for BFT. Besides, the improvement in accuracy between window WssGBLUP and the un-weighted method was low for BFT and MS, while for CW, EMA, and YW resulted in a gain of 22%, 15%, and 20%, respectively, which indicates the presence of relevant quantitative trait loci for these traits. These findings indicate that WssGBLUP is an appropriate method for traits with a large quantitative trait loci effect.

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Comparative effect of dietary Morinda lucida leaf and Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) on carcass traits, meat quality, and oxidative stability of broiler chickens

Journal of Food Science and Technology ◽

10.1007/s13197-020-04916-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kazeem D. Adeyemi

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stability ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Broiler Chickens ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Butylated Hydroxyanisole ◽

Comparative Effect

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Transcriptome profiling analysis of muscle tissue reveals potential candidate genes affecting water holding capacity in Chinese Simmental beef cattle

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-91373-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lili Du ◽

Tianpeng Chang ◽

Bingxing An ◽

Mang Liang ◽

Xinghai Duan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Candidate Genes ◽

Molecular Mechanism ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Relevant Literature ◽

Transcriptome Profiling ◽

Water Holding Capacity ◽

Potential Candidate ◽

Protein Protein Interaction ◽

Water Holding

AbstractWater holding capacity (WHC) is an important sensory attribute that greatly influences meat quality. However, the molecular mechanism that regulates the beef WHC remains to be elucidated. In this study, the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscles of 49 Chinese Simmental beef cattle were measured for meat quality traits and subjected to RNA sequencing. WHC had significant correlation with 35 kg water loss (r = − 0.99, p < 0.01) and IMF content (r = 0.31, p < 0.05), but not with SF (r = − 0.20, p = 0.18) and pH (r = 0.11, p = 0.44). Eight individuals with the highest WHC (H-WHC) and the lowest WHC (L-WHC) were selected for transcriptome analysis. A total of 865 genes were identified as differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between two groups, of which 633 genes were up-regulated and 232 genes were down-regulated. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment revealed that DEGs were significantly enriched in 15 GO terms and 96 pathways. Additionally, based on protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, animal QTL database (QTLdb), and relevant literature, the study not only confirmed seven genes (HSPA12A, HSPA13, PPARγ, MYL2, MYPN, TPI, and ATP2A1) influenced WHC in accordance with previous studies, but also identified ATP2B4, ACTN1, ITGAV, TGFBR1, THBS1, and TEK as the most promising novel candidate genes affecting the WHC. These findings could offer important insight for exploring the molecular mechanism underlying the WHC trait and facilitate the improvement of beef quality.

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Effects of copper levels on goat carcass traits and meat quality

Small Ruminant Research ◽

10.1016/j.smallrumres.2021.106491 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 106491

Author(s):

Jocelyn Cyan López-Puga ◽

Daniela Saraí Rico-Costilla ◽

Gustavo Sobrevilla-Hernández ◽

Gustavo Moreno-Degollado ◽

Jorge R. Kawas-Garza ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Carcass Traits

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