• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.1194-1204
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• 2023

Meat quality comprises a set of key traits such as pH, meat color, water-holding capacity, tenderness and marbling. These traits are complex because they are affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular genetic basis underlying nine meat quality-related traits in a Yorkshire pig population using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and subsequent biological pathway analysis. In total, 45,926 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers from 543 pigs were selected for the GWAS after quality control. Data were analyzed using a genome-wide efficient mixed model association (GEMMA) method. This linear mixed model-based approach identified two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for meat color (b^*) on chromosome 2 (SSC2) and one QTL for shear force on chromosome 8 (SSC8). These QTLs acted additively on the two phenotypes and explained 3.92%-4.57% of the phenotypic variance of the traits of interest. The genes encoding HAUS8 on SSC2 and an lncRNA on SSC8 were identified as positional candidate genes for these QTLs. The results of the biological pathway analysis revealed that positional candidate genes for meat color (b^*) were enriched in pathways related to muscle development, muscle growth, intramuscular adipocyte differentiation, and lipid accumulation in muscle, whereas positional candidate genes for shear force were overrepresented in pathways related to cell growth, cell differentiation, and fatty acids synthesis. Further verification of these identified SNPs and genes in other independent populations could provide valuable information for understanding the variations in pork quality-related traits.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.685-692
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• 2002

This study was carried out to estimate the genetic correlations for the carcass and growth traits of Hanwoo bulls measured at 12 and 18 months of age on the basis of the data form 1,823 heads of Hanwoo bulls raised at the Livestock Improvement Main Center from 1991 to 1998. Genetic correlations were estimated with multiple trait animal model using MTDFREML. The genetic correlations of the body weight at 12 months with average daily gain during 6${\sim}$12 months and with the body length were 0.76 and 0.79, respectively. The genetic correlations of the body weight at 18 months with average daily gain during 6${\sim}$18 months and with the body length were 0.86 and 0.82, respectively. The genetic correlations of the carcass weight with dressing percent, eye muscle area, backfat thickness and carcass length were 0.39, 0.37, 0.44 and 0.63, respectively. And estimate of 0.36 was obtained for the genetic correlation between backfat thickness and marbling score. The high and positive genetic correlations of 0.71 and 0.96 were estimated for the carcass weight with the body weights at 12 and 18 months. The genetic correlations of the carcass weight with body lengths at 12 and 18 months were 0.63 and 0.75, respectively. Positive genetic correlations were estimated for the dressing percentage with the body weight, average daily gain, body length, thurls width and chest girth. Low genetic correlations were estimated between eye muscle area and the growth traits ranging from -0.07 to 0.32. Dressing percentage was low correlated genetically with the growth traits except for the chest girth at 18 months. The genetic correlation between marbling score and chest girth at 18 months estimated was 0.25.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.411-418
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• 2023

Genome wide association studies (GWAS) identify genetic loci associated with quantitative traits in genomic selection. Although several studies have compared performance of various algorithms, no study compares them in olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. This study compared the GWAS results of four mixed linear model (MLM) algorithms and one Fixed and random model Circulating Probability Unification (FarmCPU) algorithm in olive flounder. Considering gender and genetic association matrices as fixed and random effects, the MLM had stable performance without inflation for λ_GC (genomic inflation factor) of -log₁₀P. The FarmCPU algorithm had some appropriate λ_GC of -log₁₀P, and an upward tail was identified in quantile-quantile plots. Therefore, the models were suitable for detecting genetic variants associated with olive flounder growth traits. Moreover, significant genotypes appeared several times at chromosome 22, around which quantitative trait loci are expected to exist. Finally, in both models, some of the most genetic variants were found in genes related to growth traits, confirming their reliability. These results will be helpful when applied to the genomic selection of olive flounder growth traits in the future.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.307-312
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• 2009

The study of candidate genes is an important tool to identify genes associated with economic traits. Three genes were selected to study the association between polymorphism and economic traits and breed of pigs. Growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) takes part in growth metabolism and is one of the candidate genes known to be highly associated with economic traits in pigs. Heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) is related to back fat thickness and intramuscular fat (IMF) content, and myogenin (MYOG) is associated with the amount of growth rate and lean yield in pigs. By PCR-RFLP analysis, the association between the genotypes of the three genes and the average daily gain, back fat thickness, feed conversion, body length and meat percent in 352 pigs (112 Duroc pigs, 132 Landrace pigs and 108 Yorkshire pigs) were analyzed. GHRH polymorphisms showed differences depending on breed (p<0.01) and were associated with meat percent. H-FABP polymorphisms also showed significant differences among breeds and sex (p<0.01), and were highly associated with average daily gain, feed conversion and back fat thickness (p<0.01) and even showed an association with meat percent (p<0.05). However, the MYOG gene showed no significant effect in this study. These results reconfirmed that GHRH and H-FABP are potential major genes or markers for economic traits.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1521-1528
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• 2012

Previously identified QTL regions on BTA1 and BTA5 were investigated to validate the QTL regions and to identify candidate genes for growth and carcass traits in commercial cattle populations from the USA and Korea. Initially, a total of 8 polymorphic microsatellite (MS) markers in the BTA1 and 5 QTL regions were used for Chi-square tests to compare the frequencies of individual alleles between high and low phenotypic groups for the US (Michigan Cattleman's Association/Michigan State University; MCA/MSU) cattle. For a subsequent study, 24 candidate genes containing missense mutations and located within the QTL regions based on bovine genome sequence data were analyzed for genotyping in the two commercial cattle populations. Re-sequencing analyses confirmed 18 public missense SNPs and identified 9 new SNPs. Seventeen of these SNPs were used for genotyping of the MCA/MSU cattle (n = 98) and Korean native cattle (n = 323). On BTA1, UPK1B, HRG, and MAGEF1 polymorphisms residing between BM1312 and BMS4048 were significantly associated with growth and carcass traits in one or both of the MCA/MSU and Korean populations. On BTA5, ABCD2, IL22 and SNRPF polymorphisms residing between BL4 and BR2936 were associated with marbling and backfat traits in one or both of the MCA/MSU and Korean cattle populations. These results suggested that BTA 1 and 5 QTL regions may be segregating in both Korean Hanwoo and USA commercial cattle populations and DNA markers tested in this study may contribute to the identification of positional candidate genes for marker-assisted selection programs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 2007

The growth traits in swine are economically important, which are measured by gain in weight during test period or by age of days to certain weight. However, the difference in growth rate due to individual performance and also other factors occurs. The more reasonable estimation of the measurements of these traits provides the less error in genetic evaluation of pigs. The data from 1,576 heads being weighed periodically of Gyungnam-heugdon(Berkshire) were analyzed to estimate the growth curve which is used to decide average daily gain and days to 90kg. It may not be possible to directly compare accuracy between the conventional methods and the alternative methods. However, the alternative methods by growth curve would be superior to the conventional methods not only in theoretical background, but also in acceptability for diverse factors such as breed, sex and age. The theoretical superiority of the alternative methods comes from estimation at same age in daily gain and calculation of additional days from measuring date to days to 90kg by growth curve of individual. Also this can be easily adopted in a computer system according to breed and sex.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1359-1364
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to find any association of the bovine growth hormone (bGH) gene with growth and carcass quality traits in Korean native cattle, Hanwoo. Genomic DNA was extracted from 21 Hanwoo individuals, and the 47 to 2,528 bp region of the bGH 2,856 bp (GenBank accession number M57764) including the promoter and the five exons was sequenced. A total of ten bGH SNPs were confirmed, including four (253 C>T, 303 C>T, 502 C>T, and 559 G>A) in the promoter, one (679 C>T) in exon 1, one (1,692 T>C) in intron 3, and four (2141 C>G, 2258 C>T, 2277 C>T, and 2291 A>C) in exon 5. The ten bGH SNPs were genotyped for a sample of 242 Hanwoo steers and association tests were performed to find any significant SNP that was correlated with growth and carcass quality. Of the SNPs, the 303 C>T SNP in the promoter region was significantly associated with 6-month-old weight, the 559 G>A SNP with longissimus dorsi muscle area, the 2141 C>G SNP in exon 5 with daily weight gain, and the 2258 C>T SNP with daily weight gain and carcass weight (p<0.05). The significant SNPs need to be verified in other Hanwoo populations before considering implementation of marker-assisted selection for genetic improvement of growth and carcass quality in Hanwoo.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.398-407
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• 2021

Using salt-tolerant bacteria to protect plants from salt stress is a promising microbiological treatment strategy for saline-alkali soil improvement. Here, we conducted research on the growth-promoting effect of Brevibacterium frigoritolerans on wheat under salt stress, which has rarely been addressed before. The synergistic effect of B. frigoritolerans combined with representative salt-tolerant bacteria Bacillus velezensis and Bacillus thuringiensis to promote the development of wheat under salt stress was also further studied. Our approach involved two steps: investigation of the plant growth-promoting traits of each strain at six salt stress levels (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%); examination of the effects of the strains (single or in combination) inoculated on wheat in different salt stress conditions (0, 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mM). The experiment of plant growth-promoting traits indicated that among three strains, B. frigoritolerans had the most potential for promoting wheat parameters. In single-strain inoculation, B. frigoritolerans showed the best performance of plant growth promotion. Moreover, a pot experiment proved that the plant growth-promoting potential of co-inoculation with three strains on wheat is better than single-strain inoculation under salt stress condition. Up to now, this is the first report suggesting that B. frigoritolerans has the potential to promote wheat growth under salt stress, especially combined with B. velezensis and B. thuringiensis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1377-1385
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• 2009

Effect of inclusion of hard vs. soft wheat bran with different particle size on diet digestibility, growth performance and some slaughter traits was evaluated in fattening rabbits. Four isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets were used according to the origin of wheat bran (hard (HWB) - Triticum durum - and soft (SWB) - Triticum aestivum) combined with wheat bran particle size sieved by 2 mm (fine: 2) or by 8 mm (coarse: 8) in a bifactorial (2${\times}$2) study. A growth trial was conducted to measure the effect of treatments on performance in one hundred and twenty New Zealand White${\times}$Californian rabbits fed experimental diets from 50 to 87 days of age. Faecal apparent digestibility was determined within the last week in twenty animals per diet. Digestibility of nutrients was higher (p<0.05) in the diet containing HWB2, except for crude protein, ether extract and ash, than fine and coarse soft wheat bran diets. Final live weight, feed intake and feed consumption of rabbits on the diet with fine hard wheat bran were higher and resulted in greater daily weight gains (p<0.01) than for animals on the other diets. The slaughter yield and percentage value of organs were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by the diets fed; however, the diet containing fine hard wheat bran led to lower (p<0.05) percentages of skin, abdominal fat and carcass drip loss than the other dietary treatments. It is concluded that fine hard wheat bran can be better included in the diet than soft wheat bran to maximize growth performance without affecting carcass traits of fattening rabbits.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.287-291
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for growth and carcass quality traits on BTA6 in a population of Hanwoo cattle. Three hundred and sixty one steers were produced from 39 sires that were sired by 17 grandsires in the two Hanwoo farming branches of the National Livestock Research Institute of Korea, between Spring 2000 and Fall 2002. DNA samples were collected for all of the steers, sires and grandsires, and the phenotypes for six growth and carcass quality traits were measured at 24 months of age. Twelve microsatellite markers were chosen on BTA6 and a linkage map was constructed by using seven of the twelve markers. Then, a chromosome-wide QTL scan was performed by applying an Animal Model, in which effects of QTL alleles within the grand sires were fitted as a random term. Three QTL were detected at the 5% chromosome-wise level for backfat thickness, average daily gain, and final weight. The most likely positions for the QTL were in the proximal region, i.e. 0 cM, 35 cM, and 63 cM, respectively. Also, another QTL for longissimus dorsi muscle area was detected at the 10% chromosome-wise level at 67 cM. These results were, in general, consistent with our previous report, in which candidate gene analyses showed that a SNP near ILSTS035 flanked by BM4621 (62.5 cM) and BMS2460 (81.3 cM) was associated with final weight, carcass weight, average daily gain, and longissimus dorsi muscle area in the same Hanwoo population.