• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1329-1333
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• 2004

To isolate the microsatellites from the chromosomal DNA of the Korean cattle (Hanwoo) and to use those for the genetic selection, four bacteriophage genomic libraries containing the chromosomal DNA of six Hanwoo steers showing the differences in meat quality and quantity were used. Screening of the genomic libraries using $^{32}P-radiolabeled 5'-({CA})_{12}-3$nucleotide as a probe, resulted in isolation of about 3,000 positive candidate bacteriophage clones that contain $(CA)_n$-type dinucleotide microsatellites. After confirming the presence of microsatellite in each positive candidate clone by Southern blot analysis, the DNA fragments that include microsatellite and flanking sequences possessing less than 2 kb in size, were subcloned into plasmid vector. Results from the analysis of microsatellite length polymorphism, using twenty-two PCR primers designed from flanking region of each microsatellite DNA, demonstrated that 208 and 210 alleles of HW-YU-MS#3 were closely related to the economic traits such as marbling score, daily gain, backfat thickness and M. longissimus dorsi area in Hanwoo. Interestingly, HW-YU-MS#3 microsatellite was localized in bovine chromosome 17 on which QTLs related to regulation of the body fat content and muscle ypertrophy locus are previously known to exist. Taken together, the results from the present study suggest the possible use of the two alleles as a DNA marker related to economic trait to select the Hanwoo in the future.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1525-1528
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to detect SNPs that were responsible for a carcass trait in Hanwoo populations. A non-parametric model applying a restricted partition method (RPM) was used, which exploited a partitioning algorithm considering statistical criteria for multiple comparison testing. Phenotypic and genotypic data were obtained from the Hanwoo Improvement Center, National Agricultural Cooperation Federation, Korea, in which the pedigree structure comprised 229 steers from 16 paternal half-sib proven sires that were born in Namwon or Daegwanryong livestock testing station between spring of 2002 and fall of 2003. A carcass trait, longissimus dorsi muscle area for each steer was measured after slaughter at approximately 722 days. Three SNPs (19_1, 18_4 and 28_2) near the microsatellite marker ILSTS035 on BTA6, around which the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for meat quality were previously detected, were used in this study. The RPM analyses resulted in two significant interaction effects between SNPs (19_1 and 18_4) and (19_1 and 28_2) at ${\alpha}$ = 0.05 level. However, under a general linear (parametric) model no interaction effect between any pair of the three SNPs was detected, while only one main effect for SNP19_1 was found for the trait. Also, under another non-parametric model using a multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method, only one interaction effect of the two SNPs (19_1 and 28_2) explained the trait significantly better than the parametric model with the main effect of SNP19_1. Our results suggest that RPM is a good alternative to model choices that can find associations of the interaction effects of multiple SNPs for quantitative traits in livestock species.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2013

Marbling (intramuscular fat) is an important trait that affects meat quality and is a casual factor determining the price of beef in the Korean beef market. It is a complex trait and has many biological pathways related to muscle and fat. There is a need to identify functional modules or genes related to marbling traits and investigate their relationships through a weighted gene co-expression network analysis based on the system level. Therefore, we investigated the co-expression relationships of genes related to the 'marbling score' trait and systemically analyzed the network topology in Hanwoo (Korean cattle). As a result, we determined 3 modules (gene groups) that showed statistically significant results for marbling score. In particular, one module (denoted as red) has a statistically significant result for marbling score (p = 0.008) and intramuscular fat (p = 0.02) and water capacity (p = 0.006). From functional enrichment and relationship analysis of the red module, the pathway hub genes (IL6, CHRNE, RB1, INHBA and NPPA) have a direct interaction relationship and share the biological functions related to fat or muscle, such as adipogenesis or muscle growth. This is the first gene network study with m.logissimus in Hanwoo to observe co-expression patterns in divergent marbling phenotypes. It may provide insights into the functional mechanisms of the marbling trait.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1105-1115
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• 2015

Fifty 3-month-old male Tan lambs (similar in body weight) were divided into 5 groups to investigate the effects of different restricted pasture grazing times and indoor supplementation on the productive performances and fatty acid composition of the intramuscular fat in growing lambs. The lambs grazed for different periods of time (12 h/d, 8 h/d, 4 h/d, 2 h/d, and 0 h) and received various amounts of supplementary feedings during the 120-day trial. Pasture dry matter intake (DMI), total DMI, average daily gains and the live body weights of the lambs were measured during the experiment. The animals were slaughtered at the end of the study, their carcass traits were measured, and their longissimus dorsi muscles were sampled to analyze the intramuscular fat (IMF) content and fatty acid profiles. The results indicated that the different durations of grazing and supplementary feedings affected the animal performances and the composition of fatty acids. Grazing for 8 h/d or 2 h/d with the corresponding supplementary concentrate resulted in lambs with higher body weights, carcass weights and IMF contents. Lambs with longer grazing times and less concentrate accumulated more healthy fatty acids such as conjugated linoleic acid and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and had higher n-3/n-6 ratios. Overall, a grazing allowance of 8 h/d and the corresponding concentrate was recommended to maintain a high quantity and quality of lamb meat.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.257-262
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• 2016

This study was conducted to compare the physicochemical traits of dry-cured hams made from two different three-way crossbred pigs: Yorkshire${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Duroc (YLD) and Yorkshire${\times}$Berkshire${\times}$Duroc (YBD). Animals were slaughtered at a live weight of 110 to 120 kg and cooled at $0^{\circ}C$ for 24 h in a chilling room, the ham portion of the carcasses were cut and processed by dry-curing for physico-chemical analyses. While the moisture and crude protein contents of dry-cured ham were higher in YLD than in YBD, crude fat and ash content were higher in YBD (p<0.05). The salt contents of ham from YBD were higher than those from YLD (p<0.05). YBD ham samples showed a higher $L^*$ and $b^*$ values than those from YLD, while YBD ham showed lower $a^*$ value (p<0.05). Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) values of YLD hams were lower than those of YBD samples (p<0.05). Hardness, gumminess, chewiness, and shear force values of YBD ham were higher than those of YLD sample (p<0.05). Saltiness was significantly higher in YBD ham than in YLD samples (p<0.05). YLD ham displayed a superior quality than YBD. Considering the meat quality parameters of two-way crossbred ham, YLD hams could be more suitable for the production of dry-cured products.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.976-986
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• 2015

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of lipid sources with different fatty acids profile on meat fatty acids profile and beef quality traits of Nellore. A total of 45 Nellore animals with an average initial body weight of $419{\pm}11kg$ (at $15{\pm}2mo$) were distributed in a completely randomized design consisting of 5 treatments and 9 replicates. The roughage feed was maize silage (600 g/kg on a dry matter [DM] basis) plus concentrate (400 g/kg on a DM basis). The dietary treatments were as follows: without fat (WF), palm oil (PO), linseed oil (LO), protected fat (PF), and soybean grains (SG). No effects of lipid sources were observed (p>0.05) on beef color, pH, water-holding capacity, and sarcomere length. Beef from cattle fed PO had greater shear-force values (p<0.05) compared to beef from cattle fed WF. Deposition of main unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, and linolenic) was greater in treatments WF, SG, and LO, respectively, while the values of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) were greater when animals were fed LO. The inclusion of LO in the diet enhances the concentration of CLA in longissimus muscle and subcutaneous fat besides improving the atherogenicity index and elongase activity. As such, LO can be used with the aim to improve the quality of beef from confined Nellore cattle. Conversely, the use of PO is not recommended since it may increase the concentration of undesirable unsaturated fatty acids in muscle and subcutaneous fat, shear-force and the atherogenicity index.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1205-1212
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• 2010

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of replacing 70% of the protein from fish meal by protein from ensiled or dry cassava leaves and sweet potato vines on the performance and carcass characters of growing F1 (Large White${\times}$Mong Cai) pigs in Central Vietnam. Twenty-five crossbred pigs (Large White${\times}$Mong Cai) with an initial weight of 19.7 kg (SD = 0.84) were allocated randomly to five treatment groups with 5 animals per group (3 males and 2 females). Pigs were kept individually in pens ($2.0{\times}0.8\;m$) and fed one of five diets over 90 days. The control diet was formulated with fish meal (FM) as the protein source while the other four diets were formulated by replacing 70% of fish meal protein by protein from ensiled cassava leaves (ECL), dry cassava leaves (DCL), dry sweet potato vines (DSPV) or ensiled sweet potato vines (ESPV). Animals were fed their diets at 4% of BW. Results showed that final BW, ADG, DMI and feed conversion ratio (FCR) among the experimental treatments were not significantly different (p>0.05). ECL or DCL and ESPV reduced feed cost per unit gain by 8-17.5% compared to the fish meal diet. There were no significant differences in carcass characters among the diets (p>0.05). Lean meat percentages and protein deposition ranged 41.5-45.8% and 40.2-52.9 g/d, respectively. Using ensiled or dry cassava leaves and sweet potato vine can replace at least 70% of the protein from fish meal (or 35% of total diet CP) without significant effects on performance and carcass traits of growing (20-65 kg) pigs. Including cassava leaves and sweet potato vines could improve feed cost and therefore has economic benefits.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.1726-1730
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• 2000

High fibre (CF, 242 g/kg) sunflower seed meal (SSM) was incorporated in standard grower and layer quail diets at 0, 50, 75 or 100 g/kg replacing part of the soybean meal (SBM) and deoiled rice bran (DORB). Each grower diet was offered to 30 quails housed in battery cages from day one to 5 weeks of age. At the end of the growing period, Twelve female quails from each of the four respective dietary groups were transferred to the individual laying cages and their laying performance from 7 to 20 weeks of age were evaluated on diets containing SSM at similar levels as that during the growing period. The results of growth bioassay revealed that the live weight gain, feed intake, nutrient retention and carcass characteristics of quails in different dietary groups did not vary significantly (p>0.05), although the quails fed SSM based diets utilized the feed less (p<0.05) efficiently than those fed the control diet. During the laying period, the egg production and egg quality traits remained unaffected due to dietary treatments but feed required per unit egg production increased (p<0.05) as the level of SSM in diet was increased to 100 g/kg. Although, the cost of feed per kg decreased due to the incorporation of SSM in diet but the same was not reflected in feed cost per unit gain, meat or egg production as such parameters were comparable on all the diets. It could thus be concluded that the SSM can be incorporated in quail diets upto 100 g/kg for part of SBM, an item usually expensive and also in short supply in developing countries including India.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1507-1515
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• 2018

Objective: In the poultry industry, the most important economic traits are meat quality and carcass yield. Thus, many studies were conducted to investigate the regulatory pathways during muscle differentiation. To gain insight of muscle differentiation mechanism during growth period, we identified and validated calcium-related genes which were highly expressed during muscle differentiation through mRNA sequencing analysis. Methods: We conducted next-generation-sequencing (NGS) analysis of mRNA from undifferentiated QM7 cells and differentiated QM7 cells (day 1 to day 3 of differentiation periods). Subsequently, we obtained calcium related genes related to muscle differentiation process and examined the expression patterns by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Through RNA sequencing analysis, we found that the transcription levels of six genes (troponin C1, slow skeletal and cardiac type [TNNC1], myosin light chain 1 [MYL1], MYL3, phospholamban [PLN], caveolin 3 [CAV3], and calsequestrin 2 [CASQ2]) particularly related to calcium regulation were gradually increased according to days of myotube differentiation. Subsequently, we validated the expression patterns of calcium-related genes in quail myoblasts. These results indicated that TNNC1, MYL1, MYL3, PLN, CAV3, CASQ2 responded to differentiation and growth performance in quail muscle. Conclusion: These results indicated that calcium regulation might play a critical role in muscle differentiation. Thus, these findings suggest that further studies would be warranted to investigate the role of calcium ion in muscle differentiation and could provide a useful biomarker for muscle differentiation and growth.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.693-699
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• 2004

Live animal selection programs that favor animals with a minimum amount of carcass fat are used for improving breeding flocks of sheep. To predict carcass characteristics of live sheep using body measurements in breeding flocks, 200 male and female lambs of two fat-tailed Iranian sheep breeds (Moghani and Makui) were used. Depth of soft tissue over the 12th rib of the live animals was measured with ultrasound (ULGR) and with hypodermic needle (NGR). The height at withers (HW), body length (BL), circumference of heart girth (CH) and width of hooks (WH), were measured. All animals were slaughtered; carcasses were cut into joints and dissected. Breed had a significant effect on all of the live easurements. The Moghani breed showed a higher value for HW, CH, ULGR and NGR, compared to that of Makui. Except for soft tissue depths; ULGR, NGR and GR, the male lambs showed higher values in live and carcass measurements than females. Percentages of carcass, total fat and intermuscular fat in females were higher than that of male lambs. In spite of the higher amount of subcutaneous and intermuscular fat in female (which is usually used for their physiological need, such as pregnancy and lactation), the male lambs had a heavier fat-tail than females. There was a wide range of variation of percentage of total carcass fat and total chemical fat content of carcass in the two breeds. Eventually this wide variation could be use by animal breeders for selection of animals with a lesser amount of carcass fat. Live weight of lambs showed a relatively low correlation with percentage of carcass lean, total fat and subcutaneous and intermuscular fat. Total lean meat was predicted with relatively high coefficients of determination in the two breeds ($R^2$=0.61 and 0.89, respectively). Live weight and carcass traits were predicted using simple measurements, but with $R^2$ ranging from 0.53 to 0.93.