Association of calpain and calpastatin genes with exterior traits of aberdeen-angus

  • Н. Г. Лысенко
  • А. И. Колесник
  • И. В. Горайчук
  • С. Ю. Рубан
  • А. М. Федота

Abstract

Aim. Due to improvement of cattle breeding methods the aim of the study was to assess the relationship between exterior parameters of Aberdeen-Angus and genes associated with meat tenderness – CAPN1 (calpain) and CAST (calpastatin). Methods. Livestock valuation methods were used to measure the exterior parameters of the animals. Molecular genetic analysis was performed by PCR-RFLP. Statistical testing of hypothesis of association between the studied genotypes and exterior parameters was conducted using ANOVA and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient at significance levels of 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001. Results. Desirable (associated with meat tenderness) alleles C of CAPN1 and CAST genes are associated with an increase chest (CAPN1) and muscle (CAST) size. G alleles of these genes are associated with a better-balanced body. Conclusions. Selection directed to increase of the C alleles of CAPN1 and CAST frequency allows to improve the meat quality accompanied by increasing of body parts with a high content of muscle tissue and muscles.

Keywords: Aberdeen-Angus breed, exterior parameters, single nucleotide polymorphism, calpain and calpastatin genes.