Association of markers in the bovine CAPN1 gene with meat tenderness in large crossbred populations that sample influential industry sires1,2

Abstract

Two previously identified single-nucleotide polymorphism markers located within the micromolar calcium-activated neutral protease gene (CAPN1) were evaluated for their association with variation in meat tenderness using one commercial sample of Simmental x Angus crossbred calves and one multibreed, crossbred research herd. The commercial sample included 362 animals sired by 23 registered Simmental bulls bred to unregistered Angus cows and represented current industry animals in which to test the predictive merit of the markers. The second sample was a research herd including 564 steers from the Germplasm Evaluation Cycle VII population at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, produced with semen from popular sires of the seven Bos taurus beef breeds with the most registrations in the United States (Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Limousin, Red Angus, and Simmental) on Angus, Hereford, and MARC III cows. These animals form a relatively outbred population that constituted a stringent test of the predictive merit of the genetic markers, although small groups were half-sibs. Warner-Bratzler shear force measurements were used to determine tenderness phenotypes for all animals. The populations were genotyped for two markers that predict variation at amino acid positions 316 and 530 of the mu-calpain polypeptide, produced by the CAPN1 gene. Minor allele frequencies for markers 316 and 530 in the commercial sample were 0.17 and 0.37, respectively, and in the Cycle VII animals, were 0.20 and 0.28, respectively. Both markers showed association with shear force in the commercial sample (P = 0.04) and the Cycle VII population (P = 0.02), supporting the hypothesis that they represent potential markers to aid selection for improved meat tenderness in commercial populations of beef cattle in the United States.

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

“…Least square means and standard errors of the rib-eye area (REA), back-fat thickness (BT), intramuscular fat (IF), shear force (SF) and myofi brillar fragmentation index (MFI) determined for genotypes of the CAST/XmnI polymorphism. results presented here and elsewhere (Page et al, 2004;White et al, 2005;Corva et al, 2007) suggest that the A allele frequency of CAPN530 is lower then the G frequency in both B. taurus and B. indicus animals, and that the A allele occurrence is not extremely different between breeds. In two different B. taurus populations -a commercial herd, Simmental x Angus, and a research herd, GPE Cycle 7 -, Page et al (2004) showed frequencies of 37 and 28% for the A allele.…”

“…results presented here and elsewhere (Page et al, 2004;White et al, 2005;Corva et al, 2007) suggest that the A allele frequency of CAPN530 is lower then the G frequency in both B. taurus and B. indicus animals, and that the A allele occurrence is not extremely different between breeds. In two different B. taurus populations -a commercial herd, Simmental x Angus, and a research herd, GPE Cycle 7 -, Page et al (2004) showed frequencies of 37 and 28% for the A allele. White et al (2005) found a 14% frequency in a study with animals that combined B. taurus and B. indicus infl uence.…”

“…Page et al (2002Page et al ( , 2004 and Corva et al (2007) found evidence of the association between polymorphism and meat tenderness. Interestingly, while Page et al (2002Page et al ( , 2004) report a favorable effect of the G allele, Corva et al (2007) dispute the superior meat tenderness -smaller shear force values -of the AG genotype in comparison with the GG genotype. Analogous to conclusions reported by White et al (2005), the present work failed to show association between genotypes of CAPN530 and meat tenderness.…”

“…The alteration between two apolar aminoacids is relatively conservative, although it may change protein stability and assemblage, thus affecting proteolytic activity (Page et al, 2002). Page et al (2002Page et al ( , 2004 and Corva et al (2007) found evidence of the association between polymorphism and meat tenderness. Interestingly, while Page et al (2002Page et al ( , 2004) report a favorable effect of the G allele, Corva et al (2007) dispute the superior meat tenderness -smaller shear force values -of the AG genotype in comparison with the GG genotype.…”

“…They also found some evidence indicating that genotyping this polymorphism could help identify animals with distinct calpastatin enzymatic activity. Two non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) -CAPN316 (located in exon 9) and CAPN530 (located in exon 14) in the gene CAPN1 have been associated with meat traits in Bos taurus beef breeds (Page et al, 2002(Page et al, , 2004Corva et al, 2007). Rincon & Medrano (2006) developed a PCR-RFLP method for genotyping the CAPN530 polymorphism using the PsyI enzyme.…”