Quantitative trait loci analysis for growth and carcass traits in a half-sib family of purebred Japanese Black (Wagyu) cattle1

Abstract

We used a half-sib family of purebred Japanese Black (Wagyu) cattle to locate economically important quantitative trait loci. The family was composed of 348 fattened steers, 236 of which were genotyped for 342 microsatellite markers spanning 2,664 cM of 29 bovine autosomes. The genome scan revealed evidence of 15 significant QTL (<5% chromosome-wise level) affecting growth and carcass traits. Of the 15 QTL, six QTL were significant at the 5% experiment-wise level and were located in bovine chromosomes (BTA) 4, 5, and 14. We analyzed these three chromosomes in more detail in the 348 steers, with an average marker interval of 1.2 cM. The second scan revealed that the same haplotype of the BTA 4 region (52 to 67 cM) positively affected LM area and marbling. We confirmed the QTL for carcass yield estimate on BTA 5 in the region of 45 to 54 cM. Five growth-related QTL located on BTA 14, including slaughter and carcass weights, were positively affected by the same region of the haplotype of BTA 14 (29-51 cM). These data should provide a useful reference for further marker-assisted selection in the family and positional cloning research. The research indicates that progeny design with moderate genotyping efforts is a powerful method for detecting QTL in a purebred half-sib family.

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Two Major Loci Affecting Calving Ease and Growth-Related Traits in Cattle

“…Maltecca et al (2009) recently identified a birth weight QTL at 19 cM on chromosome 14 in a Jersey-Holstein cross. There are also reports on QTL for postnatally measured growth traits in Wagyu (Mizoshita et al 2004, Takasuga et al 2007) and a Jersey-Limousin cross (Morris et al 2002), indirectly supporting our suggestive evidence for a secondary pCE QTL on chromosome 14. Casas et al (2003) and Davis et al (1998) identified a QTL for birth weight in the very proximal region of chromosome 21 in crosses of Brahman with Hereford and Charolais, respectively, providing supportive evidence for the pCE QTL identified in this study.…”

Search for quantitative trait loci affecting growth and carcass traits in a cross population of beef and dairy cattle1

“…The interval flanked by markers DIK4782 and IGF-1 harbors QTL reported for carcass yield (Mizoshita et al, 2004), fat depth and retail product yield (Casas et al, 2000), dressing percentage (Stone et al, 1999;MacNeil and Grosz, 2002), and rib bone and fat (Stone et al, 1999). Quantitative trait loci for growthrelated traits have also been identified in this chromosomal region (Davis et al, 1998;Stone et al, 1999;Kim et al, 2003;Machado et al, 2003).…”

“…The search for QTL affecting carcass yield and carcass composition in cattle has been mainly conducted by studying commercial half-sib families (Mizoshita et al, 2004;Mizoguchi et al, 2005) or experimental crosses [e.g., Bos indicus × Bos taurus (Stone et al, 1999;Casas et al, 2003) and Limousin × Wagyu cattle (Alexander et al, 2007)]. In the case of experimental cross populations, the QTL model used is based on the assumption that the founder lines are fixed for alternative alleles at the QTL (Haley et al, 1994).…”

Association Analysis between SNP Marker in Neuopeptide Y (NPY) Gene and Carcass and Meat Quality Traits in Korean Cattle

“…These finding demonstrate that NPY gene is an excellent biological candidate gene for body weight, carcass traits or growth-related traits in livestock. Mizoshita et al (2004) also reported QTL identified on BTA4 in the region of bovine NPY for marbling and lean meat area. Therefore, it is possible that these NPY SNPs are linked to these QTL (Zhang et al, 2011).…”