Associations between candidate SNPs in the calpain 1, calpastatin and leptin genes and meat tenderness among Swedish beef populations

Abstract

The contribution of three candidate genes to the variation in meat tenderness was tested in muscle samples from 243 pure-bred, young, beef bulls of Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin and Simmental breeds, raised in Swedish commercial herds. The animals were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the calpain 1 (CAPN1), calpastatin (CAST) and leptin genes. The frequent calpain 1 CAPN1:c.947G>C G allele showed an unfavourable association with tenderness. The calpastatin CAST:c.155C>T T allele, which was the most common allele, showed a favourable association with Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and compression tests. An association was observed between the leptin UASMS2C>T SNP and compression tests.

Keywords:

• Beef
• candidate gene
• compression tests
• Warner–Bratzler shear force

Acknowledgements

Grants from The Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research are gratefully acknowledged. The authors are thankful for the help from beef farmers and slaughter plants during sampling. They wish to thank Dr Åsa Lagerstedt, Dr Kumar Juneja and Jens Fjelkner during laboratory work and data editing. Constructive suggestions and comments from referees are also acknowledged.