Estimation of Genetic Correlations of Primal Cut Yields with Carcass Traits in Hanwoo Beef Cattle

This study was carried out to estimate the variance components, heritability, and genetic correlations between the carcass traits and primal cut yields in Hanwoo cattle. Carcass traits comprising 5622 records included back fat thickness (BFT), carcass weight (CW), eye muscle area (EMA), and marbling score (MS). The 10 primal cut yields from 3467 Hanwoo steers included the tenderloin (TLN), sirloin (SLN), striploin (STLN), chuck (CHK), brisket (BSK), top round (TRD), bottom round (BRD), rib (RB), shank (SK), and flank (FK). In addition, three composite traits were formed by combining primal cut yields as novel traits according to consumer preferences and market price: high-value cuts (HVC), medium-value cuts (MVC), and low-value cuts (LVC). Heritability estimates for the interest of traits were moderate to high, ranging from 0.21 ± 0.04 for CHK to 0.59 ± 0.05 for MS. Except genetic correlations between RB and other primal cut traits, favorable and moderate to high correlations were observed among the yields of primal cut that ranged from 0.38 ± 0.14 (CHK and FK) to 0.93 ± 0.01 (TRD and BRD). Moreover, the estimated genetic correlations of CW and EMA with primal cut yields and three composite traits were positive and moderate to strong, except for BFT, which was negative. These results indicate that genetic progress can be achieved for all traits, and selection to increase the yields of primal cuts can lead to considerable profitability in the Hanwoo beef industry.

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Estimation of Genetic Parameters by Single-Trait and Multi-Trait Models for Carcass Traits in Hanwoo Cattle

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani9121061 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. 1061

Author(s):

Swati Srivastava ◽

Bryan Irvine Lopez ◽

Sara de las Heras-Saldana ◽

Jong-Eun Park ◽

Dong-Hyun Shin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Parameters ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Meat Production ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Genomic Information ◽

Marbling Score ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Hanwoo Cattle ◽

Genomic Model

Hanwoo breed is preferred in South Korea because of the high standards in marbling and the palatability of its meat. Numerous studies have been conducted and are ongoing to increase the meat production and quality in this beef population. The aim of this study was to estimate and compare genetic parameters for carcass traits using BLUPF90 software. Four models were constructed, single trait pedigree model (STPM), single-trait genomic model (STGM), multi-trait pedigree model (MTPM), and multi-trait genomic model (MTGM), using the pedigree, phenotype, and genomic information of 7991 Hanwoo cattle. Four carcass traits were evaluated: Back fat thickness (BFT), carcass weight (CWT), eye muscle area (EMA), and marbling score (MS). Heritability estimates of 0.40 and 0.41 for BFT, 0.33 and 0.34 for CWT, 0.36 and 0.37 for EMA, and 0.35 and 0.38 for MS were obtained for the single-trait pedigree model and the multi-trait pedigree model, respectively, in Hanwoo. Further, the genomic model showed more improved results compared to the pedigree model, with heritability of 0.39 (CWT), 0.39 (EMA), and 0.46 (MS), except for 0.39 (BFT), which may be due to random events. Utilization of genomic information in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has allowed more capturing of the variance from the traits improving the variance components.

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Estimation of Genetic Parameters and Correlation between Yearling Ultrasound Measurements and Carcass Traits in Hanwoo Cattle

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11051425 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 1425

Author(s):

Masoumeh Naserkheil ◽

Deuk-Hwan Lee ◽

Hong-Sik Kong ◽

Jiyeon Seong ◽

Hossein Mehrban

Keyword(s):

Genetic Correlation ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Backfat Thickness ◽

Marbling Score ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Ultrasound Measurements ◽

Heritability Estimates

Genetic parameters have a significant role in designing a breeding program and are required to evaluate economically important traits. The objective of this study was to estimate heritability and genetic correlation between yearling ultrasound measurements, such as backfat thickness (UBFT), eye muscle area (UEMA), intramuscular fat content (UIMF), and carcass traits, such as backfat thickness (BFT), carcass weight (CW), eye muscle area (EMA), marbling score (MS) at approximately 24 months of age, as well as yearling weight (YW) in Hanwoo bulls (15,796) and steers (5682). The (co) variance components were estimated using a multi-trait animal model. Moderate to high heritability estimates were obtained and were 0.42, 0.50, 0.56, and 0.59 for CW, EMA, BFT, and MS, respectively. Heritability estimates for yearling measurements of YW, UEMA, UBFT, and UIMF were 0.31, 0.32, 0.30, and 0.19, respectively. Favorable and strong genetic correlations were observed between UIMF and MS (0.78), UBFT and BFT (0.63), and UEMA and EMA (0.65). Moreover, the estimated genetic correlation between YW and CW was high (0.84) and relatively moderate between YW and EMA (0.43). These results suggest that genetic improvement can be achieved for carcass traits when using yearling ultrasound measurements as selection criteria in ongoing Hanwoo breeding programs.

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Effect of errors in pedigree on the accuracy of estimated breeding value for carcass traits in Korean Hanwoo cattle

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences ◽

10.5713/ajas.19.0021 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 (7) ◽

pp. 1057-1067 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chiemela Peter Nwogwugwu ◽

Yeongkuk Kim ◽

Yun Ji Chung ◽

Sung Bong Jang ◽

Seung Hee Roh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Gain ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Error Rates ◽

Breeding Value ◽

Marbling Score ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Data Set ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Estimated Breeding Value ◽

Hanwoo Cattle

Objective: This study evaluated the effect of pedigree errors (PEs) on the accuracy of estimated breeding value (EBV) and genetic gain for carcass traits in Korean Hanwoo cattle.Methods: The raw data set was based on the pedigree records of Korean Hanwoo cattle. The animals’ information was obtained using Hanwoo registration records from Korean animal improvement association database. The record comprised of 46,704 animals, where the number of the sires used was 1,298 and the dams were 38,366 animals. The traits considered were carcass weight (CWT), eye muscle area (EMA), back fat thickness (BFT), and marbling score (MS). Errors were introduced in the pedigree dataset through randomly assigning sires to all progenies. The error rates substituted were 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80%, respectively. A simulation was performed to produce a population of 1,650 animals from the pedigree data. A restricted maximum likelihood based animal model was applied to estimate the EBV, accuracy of the EBV, expected genetic gain, variance components, and heritability (h2) estimates for carcass traits. Correlation of the simulated data under PEs was also estimated using Pearson’s method.Results: The results showed that the carcass traits per slaughter year were not consistent. The average CWT, EMA, BFT, and MS were 342.60 kg, 78.76 cm<sup>2, 8.63 mm, and 3.31, respectively. When errors were introduced in the pedigree, the accuracy of EBV, genetic gain and h2 of carcass traits was reduced in this study. In addition, the correlation of the simulation was slightly affected under PEs.Conclusion: This study reveals the effect of PEs on the accuracy of EBV and genetic parameters for carcass traits, which provides valuable information for further study in Korean Hanwoo cattle.

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Genetic parameters among growth and carcass traits of Canadian Charolais cattle

Canadian Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4141/a04-019 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 84 (4) ◽

pp. 589-597 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

D. H. Crews ◽

Jr., M. Lowerison ◽

N. Caron ◽

R. A. Kemp

Keyword(s):

Fixed Effects ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Growth Traits ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Subcutaneous Fat ◽

Field Performance ◽

Pedigree Data ◽

Marbling Score ◽

Muscle Area

Genetic parameters for three growth and five carcass traits were estimated for Charolais using a combination of carcass progeny test, purebred field performance and pedigree data. Heritabilities and genetic and residual correlations were derived from variance components for birth weight (BWT, n = 54 221), 205-d weaning weight (WT205, n = 31 384), postweaning gain (PWG, n = 19 403), hot carcass weight (HCW, n = 6958), average subcutaneous fat thickness (FAT, n = 6866), longissimus muscle area (REA, n = 6863), marbling score (MAR, n = 6903) and estimated carcass lean yield percentage (PLY, n = 6852) with an animal model (n = 78 728) and restricted maximum likelihood. Breed of dam and contemporary group appropriate to each trait were included as fixed effects in the model, whereas random effects included direct genetic for all traits, maternal genetic for BWT and WT205, and maternal permanent environmental for WT205. Carcass traits were adjusted to a constant harvest age of 425 d. Heritability estimates of 0.53, 0.22, and 0.21 were obtained for direct components of BWT, WT205, and PWG, respectively, and maternal heritabilities were 0.16 and 0.10 for BWT and WT205, respectively. Direct × maternal genetic correlations for BWT (-0.49) and WT205 (-0.35) were negative. Heritabilities for HCW, FAT, REA, MAR, and PLY were 0.33, 0.39, 0.43, 0.34, and 0.46, respectively. Genetic correlations among direct effects for growth traits were moderately positive and generally uncorrelated with maternal effects across traits. Lean and fat deposition in the carcass generally had negative, unfavorable genetic correlations, although improvement in lean yield and marbling score may not be strongly antagonistic. Genetic correlations of direct and maternal components of growth traits with carcass traits suggested that selection for increased growth rate would not be antagonistic to improvement in carcass yield or meat quality. Key words: Carcass, Charolais, correlation, genetic parameters, growth

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Genetic Analysis of Major Carcass Traits of Korean Hanwoo Males Raised for Thirty Months

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11061792 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1792

Author(s):

Mahboob Alam ◽

Soo Hyun Lee ◽

Do Hyun Lee ◽

Chungil Cho ◽

Mi Na Park

Keyword(s):

Genetic Parameters ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Production Cycle ◽

Marbling Score ◽

Multiple Trait ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Future Studies ◽

Genetic Potential ◽

First Time

Understanding animals’ genetic potential for carcass traits is the key to genetic improvements in any beef cattle. In this study, we investigated the genetic merits of carcass traits using Hanwoo males raised in a 30-month production system (PROD30). We achieved this using a dataset comprising 6092 Hanwoo males born between 2005 and 2017 and measures of four carcass traits (carcass weight, CWT; eye muscle area, EMA; backfat thickness, BFT; and marbling score, MS). Genetic parameters were estimated using a multiple-trait animal model through the AIREMLF90 program. According to the multiple-trait model, the h2 of CWT, EMA, BFT, and MS were 0.35 ± 0.04, 0.43 ± 0.05, 0.48 ± 0.05, and 0.56 ± 0.05, respectively. The strongest genetic correlation (rg) was obtained between CWT and EMA (0.49 ± 0.07), whereas it was negligible between CWT and BFT. EMA and MS were also moderately correlated, whereas there was a relatively low negative correlation between EMA and BFT (−0.26 ± 0.08). Our study revealed a consistent indirect genetic improvement in animals from 2005 onwards. Although Hanwoo improvement has mainly focused on males under a 24-month production cycle, we observed PROD30 males to have somewhat similar genetic potential. Our results provide useful insights into the genetic merits of PROD30 males for the first time, which may facilitate future studies on them and their integration into the Hanwoo National Evaluation for genomic selection.

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Weighted Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Prediction for Carcass Traits in Hanwoo Cattle

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes10121019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 1019 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bryan Irvine Lopez ◽

Seung-Hwan Lee ◽

Jong-Eun Park ◽

Dong-Hyun Shin ◽

Jae-Don Oh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genomic Prediction ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Best Linear Unbiased Prediction ◽

Birth Date ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Linear Unbiased Prediction ◽

Best Linear Unbiased ◽

Hanwoo Cattle ◽

Unbiased Prediction

The genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) method has been widely used in routine genomic evaluation as it assumes a common variance for all single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). However, this is unlikely in the case of traits influenced by major SNP. Hence, the present study aimed to improve the accuracy of GBLUP by using the weighted GBLUP (WGBLUP), which gives more weight to important markers for various carcass traits of Hanwoo cattle, such as backfat thickness (BFT), carcass weight (CWT), eye muscle area (EMA), and marbling score (MS). Linear and different nonlinearA SNP weighting procedures under WGBLUP were evaluated and compared with unweighted GBLUP and traditional pedigree-based methods (PBLUP). WGBLUP methods were assessed over ten iterations. Phenotypic data from 10,215 animals from different commercial herds that were slaughtered at approximately 30-month-old of age were used. All these animals were genotyped using Illumina Bovine 50k SNP chip and were divided into a training and a validation population by birth date on 1 November 2015. Genomic prediction accuracies obtained in the nonlinearA weighting methods were higher than those of the linear weighting for all traits. Moreover, unlike with linear methods, no sudden drops in the accuracy were noted after the peak was reached in nonlinearA methods. The average accuracies using PBLUP were 0.37, 0.49, 0.40, and 0.37, and 0.62, 0.74, 0.67, and 0.65 using GBLUP for BFT, CWT, EMA, and MS, respectively. Moreover, these accuracies of genomic prediction were further increased to 4.84% and 2.70% for BFT and CWT, respectively by using the nonlinearA method under the WGBLUP model. For EMA and MS, WGBLUP was as accurate as GBLUP. Our results indicate that the WGBLUP using a nonlinearA weighting method provides improved predictions for CWT and BFT, suggesting that the ability of WGBLUP over the other models by weighting selected SNPs appears to be trait-dependent.

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THI Modulation of Genetic and Non-genetic Variance Components for Carcass Traits in Hanwoo Cattle

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2020.576377 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Yoonji Chung ◽

Seung Hwan Lee ◽

Hak-Kyo Lee ◽

Dajeong Lim ◽

Julius van der Werf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Reaction Norm ◽

Genetic Effects ◽

Additive Models ◽

Residual Effects ◽

Environment Interaction ◽

Marbling Score ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Eye Muscle

The phenotype of carcass traits in beef cattle are affected by random genetic and non-genetic effects, which both can be modulated by an environmental variable such as Temperature-Humidity Index (THI), a key environmental factor in cattle production. In this study, a multivariate reaction norm model (MRNM) was used to assess if the random genetic and non-genetic (i.e., residual) effects of carcass weight (CW), back fat thickness (BFT), eye muscle area (EMA), and marbling score (MS) were modulated by THI, using 9,318 Hanwoo steers (N = 8,964) and cows (N = 354) that were genotyped on the Illumina Bovine SNP50 BeadChip (50K). THI was measured based on the period of 15–45 days before slaughter. Both the correlation and the interaction between THI and random genetic and non-genetic effects were accounted for in the model. In the analyses, it was shown that the genetic effects of EMA and the non-genetic effects of CW and MS were significantly modulated by THI. No significant THI modulation of such effects was found for BFT. These results highlight the relevance of THI changes for the genetic and non-genetic variation of CW, EMA, and MS in Hanwoo beef cattle. Importantly, heritability estimates for CW, EMA, and MS from additive models without considering THI interactions were underestimated. Moreover, the significance of interaction can be biased if not properly accounting for the correlation between THI and genetic and non-genetic effects. Thus, we argue that the estimation of genetic parameters should be based on appropriate models to avoid any potential bias of estimates. Our finding should serve as a basis for future studies aiming at revealing genotype by environment interaction in estimation and genomic prediction of breeding values.

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Genetic relationships between live animal scan traits and carcass traits of Australian Angus bulls and heifers

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an12435 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 53 (10) ◽

pp. 1075

Author(s):

Vinzent Börner ◽

David J. Johnston ◽

Hans-Ulrich Graser

Keyword(s):

Genetic Gain ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Genetic Relationships ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Age Effect ◽

Breeding Value ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Live Animal ◽

Eye Muscle

Genetic parameters of four ultrasound live-scan traits and five carcass traits of Australian Angus cattle were examined with regard to sex and age of the scanned individuals. Live-scans were subdivided according to whether the observation was obtained from a bull or a heifer. In addition, two age subset (‘young’ and ‘old’) within sex were formed by k-means clustering around two centres within sex according to the age at scanning. REML estimates for heritabilities, genetic, residual and phenotypic correlations for each trait and trait combination were derived from a series of uni-, bi- and tri-variate analysis. Statistically significant age effects could be found for heritablities of scan intra-muscular fat content in heifers and scan fat depth at P8 site and scan rib fat depth in bulls, and for genetic correlations between the scan traits fat depth at P8 site, rib fat depth and eye muscle area. However, differences in heritablities between age sets within sex did not exceed 0.05, and genetic correlations between scan traits of ‘young’ and ‘old’ animals were at least 0.9. Differences between genetic correlations of abattoir carcass traits and ‘young’ and ‘old’ live-scan traits, respectively, were not significant due to high standard errors but up to 0.44. The larger of these differences were found for combinations of scan-traits and non-target carcass traits and not for combination of scan-traits and their actual carcass target traits. Thus, although some results suggest an age effect on the genetic parameters of scan traits, the extent of this effect is of limited impact on breeding value accuracy and genetic gain of scan traits. Furthermore, a possible age effect on correlations to economically important carcass traits need to be underpinned by more carcass traits observations in order to get unambiguous results allowing to draw consequences of scanning younger individuals for accuracy of breeding values and genetic gain in carcass traits.

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Genetic parameters of carcass quality in Down cross sheep

Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s0003356100026131 ◽

1968 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 183-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

J. C. Bowman ◽

J. E. Marshall ◽

J. S. Broadbent

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Carcass Quality ◽

Correction Factors ◽

Muscle Area ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Additive Genetic Variation ◽

Commercial Value

This report gives an account of the paternal half-sib analysis of carcass quality, based on commercial joint dissection, on Down cross sheep collected in the four years 1962–65 inclusive. It also includes a discussion of the multiplicative correction factors used, and the phenotypic and genetic correlations between all the traits, estimated from the pooled within-farm, within-year analysis. It shows that there is very little genetic variation for many of the characters but that the percentage leg, percentage best end, age at slaughter and eye-muscle area have much additive genetic variation remaining for worthwhile response to be expected from selection. These three carcass traits are also the most important characters in determining the commercial value and saleability of lamb. From the results obtained it is argued that there is still much genetic variation for fat development in sheep.

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Comparison of two live-animal ultrasound systems for genetic evaluation of carcass traits in Angus cattle

Translational Animal Science ◽

10.1093/tas/txab011 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

C J Duff ◽

J H J van der Werf ◽

P F Parnell ◽

S A Clark

Keyword(s):

Carcass Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Subcutaneous Fat ◽

Genetic Evaluation ◽

Ultrasound Scan ◽

Ultrasound Scanning ◽

Eye Muscle ◽

Angus Cattle ◽

Breeding Objective ◽

Two Systems

Abstract The improvement of carcass traits is an important breeding objective in beef cattle breeding programs. The most common way of selecting for improvement in carcass traits is via indirect selection using ultrasound scanning of selection candidates which are submitted to genetic evaluation programs. Two systems used to analyse ultrasound images to predict carcass traits are the Pie Medical Esaote Aquila (PIE) and Central Ultrasound Processing (CUP). This study compared the ability of the two systems to predict carcass traits for genetic evaluation in Australian Angus cattle. Genetic and phenotypic parameters were estimated using data from 1648 Angus steers which were ultrasound scanned twice with both systems, first at feedlot entry and then following 100 days in the feedlot. The traits interpreted from ultrasound scanning included eye muscle area (EMA), rib fat (RIB) rump fat (RUMP) and intramuscular fat (IMF). Abattoir carcass data were collected on all steers following the full feedlot feeding period of 285 days. For all ultrasound scan traits, CUP resulted in higher phenotypic and genetic variances compared to the PIE. For IMF, CUP had higher heritability at feedlot intake (0.51 for CUP compared to 0.37 for PIE) and after 100 days feeding (0.54 for CUP compared to 0.45 PIE). CUP predicted IMF also tended to have stronger correlations with the breeding objective traits of carcass IMF marbling traits, both genetically (ranging from 0.59 to 0.75 for CUP compared to 0.45 to 0.63 for PIE) and phenotypically (ranging from 0.27 to 0.43 for CUP compared to 0.19 to 0.28 for PIE). Ultrasound scan EMA were the only group of traits in which the heritabilities were higher for PIE (0.52 for PIE compared to 0.40 for CUP at feedlot intake and 0.46 for PIE compared to 0.43 for CUP at 100 days of feeding), however with similar relationships to the breeding objective carcass EMA observed. For subcutaneous fat traits of ultrasound RIB and RUMP, the heritabilites and genetic correlations to the related carcass traits were similar, with the exception being the higher heritability observed for CUP predicted RUMP at feedlot intake at 0.52 compared to 0.38 for PIE. The results from this study indicates that the CUP system, compared to PIE, provides an advantage for genetic evaluation of carcass traits in Angus cattle, particularly for the IMF and associated marbling traits.

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