Genetic relationships between composition of pork bellies and performance, carcase and meat quality traits

The feed intake of 1279 mature non-pregnant and non-lactating Merino ewes grazing pasture was estimated by faecal marker dilution methods using rumen controlled-release devices containing chromium sesquioxide capsules. The ewes were from two genetic resource flocks (QPLU$ flock at Trangie in NSW and a Western Australia flock at Katanning) that are representative of the major bloodlines and strains in the Australian Merino population. Pedigree information over several generations was used to genetically link other animals from the resource flocks that had additional production data to allow estimation of genetic correlations between feed intake and production traits with greater accuracy. Data were available for over 16 000 records for growth, wool and reproduction traits from the ewes and their relatives, together with carcass and meat quality traits from over 4000 rams that were slaughtered at ~18 months of age. Feed intake of the ewes was significantly affected by the reproductive status of the ewes at their previous lambing and feed intake, expressed as relative digestible dry matter intake (rDDMI), had an estimated heritability of 0.32 ± 0.08. The genetic correlations between rDDMI and growth traits were positive and larger than their standard error for birth (0.24 ± 0.12) and hogget (0.20 ± 0.09) weight, although inclusion of ewe liveweight as a covariate in the model reduced the correlations to close to zero. Generally, the genetic correlations between rDDMI and the wool, reproduction, carcass and meat quality traits were close to zero and smaller than their standard errors, with little effect of including ewe liveweight as a covariate. The results suggest that feed requirements of ewes could be reduced by selection, although ewe weight and growth would also decline unless accounted for in the model. Practical and cost effective methods of measurement of intake under grazing conditions need to be developed.

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Effect of Differently Coloured Clothes on Fear and Stress Responses, Some Meat Quality Traits and Performance in Broilers

Italian Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4081/ijas.2014.3453 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 3453

Author(s):

Evrim Dereli Fidan ◽

Mehmet Kenan Turkyilmaz ◽

Serap Ünübol Aypak

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

And Performance

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Genetic correlation between serum insulin-like growth factor-1 concentration and performance and meat quality traits in Duroc pigs1

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/ansci/82.4.994 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 82 (4) ◽

pp. 994-999 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

K. Suzuki ◽

M. Nakagawa ◽

K. Katoh ◽

H. Kadowaki ◽

T. Shibata ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Factor ◽

Genetic Correlation ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Serum Insulin ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Insulin Like Growth Factor ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

And Performance

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PSVIII-32 Estimates of genetic parameters for sub-primal and meat quality traits in Canadian commercial crossbred swine populations

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skz258.549 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (Supplement_3) ◽

pp. 270-271

Author(s):

Prince P Opoku ◽

Bimol Roy ◽

Graham Plastow ◽

huaigang Lei ◽

Chunyan Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Genetic Relationships ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Eating Quality ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Muscle Weight ◽

Gene Effects ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

Insoluble Collagen

Abstract The hypothesis that genetic relationships exist between loin muscle collagen characteristics and sub-primal and meat quality traits was tested. Data from 500 pigs from crosses between Duroc sires and hybrid Large White ✕ Landrace sows with pedigree back to about eight generations were used. Significant fixed effects (slaughter group and company) and a random additive effect were fitted in bivariate animal models to estimate phenotypic and genetic correlations using ASReml 4.1. Moderate heritabilities were obtained for sub-primal traits ranging from 0.21 for bone weight to 0.44 for loin muscle weight with a low estimate of 0.10 being obtained for loin weight. Meat quality traits were low to moderately heritable with the highest estimate being found for intramuscular fat (0.42). The heritability estimates for percentages of heat soluble and insoluble collagen were 0.12 and 0.15, respectively, while 0.33 was found for total collagen. Moderate to relatively high heritabilities imply the possibility of improving these traits through selective breeding. In general, moderate to high phenotypic and genetic correlations were obtained for sub-primal traits, whilst meat quality traits had moderate phenotypic and moderate to high genetic correlations. Strong negative genetic correlations between moisture traits and fat traits and a further negative correlation between fat and muscling traits were estimated confirming that selecting for improved muscling over time can negatively affect fat traits and indirectly decrease meat eating quality. The strong genetic correlation between pH and L* (-0.95) suggested possible pleiotropic gene effects on these traits. Warner-Braztler shear force (WBSF) had moderate genetic correlations with insoluble collagen (0.42) and soluble collagen (-0.38) suggesting a potential relationship between some of the genes impacting these traits. Genetic correlations between WBSF and collagen characteristics indicate that despite the relative youthfulness of pigs at slaughter, genetic selection for collagen solubility may decrease pork toughness.

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Quantitative analysis of performance, carcass and meat quality traits in cattle from two Australian beef herds in which a null myostatin allele is segregating

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/ea08206 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 49 (4) ◽

pp. 297 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

B. A. O' Rourke ◽

J. A. Dennis ◽

P. J. Healy ◽

W. A. McKiernan ◽

P. L. Greenwood ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Selection Line ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Coding Region ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

Cattle Herds ◽

And Performance

Two Australian beef cattle herds, in which selection for muscularity was a primary objective, were used in this study to identify bovine myostatin (MSTN) mutations associated with increased muscling, and to assess associations between genotype and performance, carcass and meat quality traits. One was a research herd (herd A) established from Angus × Hereford cows, and comprised a high and low muscle selection line. The other (herd B) was a commercial beef enterprise with cattle of Angus and Charolais origin. Sequencing of the MSTN coding region and flanking splice junctions in an initial sample of 34 animals from both herds identified the 821 del11 mutation as well as six other polymorphic sites. The nucleotide 374–50C > T polymorphism in intron 1 was found to be in linkage disequilibrium with the 821 del11 mutation, with both variants confined to the high muscle selection line in herd A. No other variants were exclusive to either of the two herd A selection lines. The effect of the 821 del11 mutation was further investigated in a total of 803 cattle from both herds. A relatively high prevalence of 821 del11 heterozygotes (herd A 16%; herd B 23%) was found and heterozygotes had significant advantages in eye muscle area and muscle score over their wildtype counterparts, and did not differ in meat quality. Retail beef yield from steers was higher for the 821 del11 heterozygotes from herd A (67.0 v. 63.5%) and herd B (71.8 v. 68.6%), relative to homozygous wildtype contemporaries, demonstrating the benefits of incorporating single null MSTN alleles into breeding programs.

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