Journal of Fisheries & Livestock Production
Open Access

Abstract

Production traits are mainly influenced by variation within several small-effect quantitative trait loci (QTL). Elucidate the hereditary bases of genetic variation of these traits is a bottleneck to incorporate molecular techniques in animal breeding programs. Developments in molecular genetics specifically high-throughput genotyping and sequencing methods offer a valuable opportunity to identify causal genes influencing complex traits. Recent studies have identified putative QTLs for production traits such as meat quality and mineral content in muscle of Nelore breed. These studies have indicated that gene clusters related to mineral transport as well as to metal binding influence meat quality. Supporting this finding, a study with the same population has shown that potassium level in longissimus dorsi muscle affect beef tenderness. Furthermore, the calpain system is highly sensitive to fluctuating levels of calcium ions indicating that calcium channel activity could generally influence postmortem tenderization. A Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) performed for several mineral content of longissimus dorsi muscle detected similar biological mechanisms related to signal transduction, signaling pathways via integral membrane proteins, transcription regulation or metal ion binding influencing levels of different minerals. Genetic architecture of muscle mineral concentration potentially involves genes that control the transport and homeostasis of ions. These results may be useful to outline strategies to improve the mineral concentration of muscle and enhance both nutritional and meat qualityattributes.

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