Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in the calpastatin gene with carcass and meat quality traits of beef cattle1

Abstract

Calpastatin (CAST) is a naturally occurring protein that inhibits the normal tenderization of meat as it ages postmortem. A SNP was identified in the CAST gene (a G to C substitution) and genotyped on crossbred commercially fed heifers (n = 163), steers (n = 226), and bulls (n = 61) from beef feedlots, and steers (n = 178) from a University of Guelph feeding trial. The association of the CAST SNP with carcass and meat quality traits was studied. Carcass traits included fat, lean, and bone yield; grade fat; LM area; and HCW. Meat quality traits included marbling grade; i.m. fat content of LM; tenderness evaluation of LM (Warner-Bratzler shear force) at 2, 7, 14, and 21 d of postmortem aging; and tenderness evaluation of semitendinosus muscle at 7 d of postmortem aging. The mixed model used in the analyses included fixed effects of CAST genotype, sex, slaughter group, and breed composition (linear covariate); sire was a random effect. For the analysis of shear force, i.m. fat content of LM was also included in the model as a linear covariate. Shear force measures were analyzed within days of postmortem aging and by repeated measures analysis. The CAST SNP allele C was more frequent (63%) in the crossbred population than allele G. The CAST SNP was associated with shear force across days of postmortem aging (P = 0.005); genotype CC yielded beef that was more tender than GG (-0.32 kg +/- 0.13), and CG had intermediate tenderness. The corresponding average allele substitution effect (G to C substitution) was also highly significant (-0.15 +/- 0.05 kg, P = 0.002). A lower percentage of unacceptably tough steaks (shear force > 5.7 kg) at 2 and 7 d postmortem was associated with an increasing number of C alleles (P < or = 0.05). At 7 d postmortem, the percentage of unacceptably tough steaks decreased by 24 and 35%, respectively, for animals carrying 1 and 2 copies of the C allele relative to animals with no C alleles. However, genotype CC had a greater fat yield (+1.44 +/- 0.56%; P = 0.037) than genotype GG, with a corresponding allele substitution effect of 0.67 +/- 0.27% (P = 0.015). Therefore, the CAST SNP allele C was associated with increased LM tenderness across days of postmortem aging and, importantly for the beef industry, had a significant reduction in the percentage of steaks rated unacceptably tough by consumers based on an assumed threshold level.

Genetic polymorphisms related to meat traits in purebred and crossbred Nelore cattle

“…However, it may be possible to fi nd linkage disequilibrium between this marker and functional polymorphisms in surrounding genes, as well as the possibility of pleiotropic effects. Chung et al (2001b) found signifi cant associations between CAST polymorphisms and percentage of kidney, pelvic and heart fat, and Schenkel et al (2006) associated the gene with carcass fat yield.…”

“…Considering the size of the effect, the association between CAST/XmnI and the evaluated traits may have been signifi cant with more animals in the sample. The weak linkage disequilibrium hypothesis showed that other polymorphisms described in the CAST gene were closely related to variation in meat tenderness, namely the SNP A2959G (access number AF159246), at region 3' UTR, and G/C (nucleotide 282 of access number AY008267), at intron 5, identifi ed by Barendse (2004) and Schenkel et al (2006) respectively. Curi et al (2008) reported the genotyping of A2959G (AF159246) SNP of bovine CAST gene by PCR-RFLP technique for the fi rst time.…”

Türkiye’de Yetiştirilen Bazı Yerli Koyun Irklarında Kalpastatin (CAST) Geni Polimorfizminin PCR-RFLP Yöntemiyle Belirlenmesi

“…Bunun yanı sıra koyunlarda da CAST geninde varyasyon olduğu bildirilmiştir (Palmer et al 1998;Sutikno et al 2011). PCR-RFLP metodu kullanılarak yapılan önceki çalışmalarda koyun CAST geninde 2 allel (M ve N) (Sutikno et al 2011;Palmer et al 1998), PCR-SSCP metodu kullanılarak yapılan çalışmalarda ise 3 allel (A, B, C) tanımlanmış ve C alleli ile et kalite özellikleri arasındaki ilişki olduğu bildirilmiştir (Schenkel et al 2006).…”

Determination of Calpastatin Gene Polymorphism in Kivircik Crossbred Ewes by PCR-RFLP Method

“…There are many factors that influence meat tenderness such as breeding, genetic, protein composition of muscle fibers, before and after slaughtering conditions (Dinh 2006). However, genetic studies on genetic factors affecting the degree of toughness of meat have indicated that Calpastatin (CAST) gene is an important DNA marker for meat quality traits (Schenkel et al 2006;Allais et al 2011). The calpaines play a key role in the process of meat tenderness with proteolytic activities in cold storage.…”