Department of Genetics and Evolution, Federal University of São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luiz, km 235, PO BOX 676, 13565-905, São Carlos, Brazil.
BMC Genet. 2013 Jun 5;14:47. doi: 10.1186/1471-2156-14-47.
Meat quality involves many traits, such as marbling, tenderness, juiciness, and backfat thickness, all of which require attention from livestock producers. Backfat thickness improvement by means of traditional selection techniques in Canchim beef cattle has been challenging due to its low heritability, and it is measured late in an animal's life. Therefore, the implementation of new methodologies for identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) linked to backfat thickness are an important strategy for genetic improvement of carcass and meat quality.
The set of SNPs identified by the random forest approach explained as much as 50% of the deregressed estimated breeding value (dEBV) variance associated with backfat thickness, and a small set of 5 SNPs were able to explain 34% of the dEBV for backfat thickness. Several quantitative trait loci (QTL) for fat-related traits were found in the surrounding areas of the SNPs, as well as many genes with roles in lipid metabolism.
These results provided a better understanding of the backfat deposition and regulation pathways, and can be considered a starting point for future implementation of a genomic selection program for backfat thickness in Canchim beef cattle.
肉质涉及许多特征，如大理石花纹、嫩度、多汁性和背膘厚度，所有这些都需要牲畜生产者关注。由于背膘厚度的遗传力低，并且在动物生命的后期进行测量，因此，通过传统选择技术来提高 Canchim 肉牛的背膘厚度一直具有挑战性。因此，实施新的单核苷酸多态性 (SNP) 鉴定方法是进行胴体和肉质遗传改良的重要策略。
随机森林方法鉴定的 SNP 组解释了与背膘厚度相关的去回归估计育种值 (dEBV) 方差的 50%，而一小组 5 个 SNP 能够解释背膘厚度的 dEBV 的 34%。在 SNP 周围区域发现了多个与脂肪相关性状相关的数量性状位点 (QTL)，以及许多在脂质代谢中起作用的基因。
这些结果提供了对背膘沉积和调节途径的更好理解，可以被认为是未来在 Canchim 肉牛中实施背膘厚度基因组选择计划的起点。
