Hanwoo Research Articles

Carcass and Meat Characteristics and Gene Expression in Intramuscular Adipose Tissue of Korean Native Cattle Fed Finishing Diets Supplemented with 5% Palm Oil.

We hypothesized that supplementing finishing diets with palm oil would promote adipogenic gene expression but depress stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) gene expression in intramuscular (i.m.) adipose tissues of Hanwoo steers during fattening period (from 16 to 32 mon of age). Fourteen Hanwoo steers were allotted randomly to 2 groups of 7 steers based on initial BW and fed either a basal diet (control) or the basal diet supplemented with 5% palm oil (BDSP). At slaughter, i.m. adipose tissue was harvested for analysis of adipogenic gene expression and fatty acid composition. There were no differences in BW or average daily gain between treatment groups. Supplemental palm oil had no effect on carcass quality traits (carcass weight, backfat thickness, loin muscle area, or marbling scores) or meat color values. Palm oil increased (p<0.05) expression of AMP-activated protein kinase-α and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, but decreased (p<0.05) CAAT/enhancer binding protein-β gene expression and tended to decrease stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene expression in i.m. adipose tissue. Palm oil increased total i.m. polyunsaturated fatty acids (p<0.05) compared to the control i.m. adipose tissue, but had no effect on saturated or monounsaturated fatty acids. Although there were significant effects of supplemental palm oil on i.m. adipose tissue gene expression, the absence of negative effects on carcass and meat characteristics indicates that palm oil could be a suitable dietary supplement for the production of Hanwoo beef cattle.

Fatty Acid Profiles, Meat Quality, and Sensory Palatability of Grain-fed and Grass-fed Beef from Hanwoo, American, and Australian Crossbred Cattle.

Fatty acid profiles in relation to meat quality traits and sensory palatability of grain-fed and grass-fed beef from Hanwoo, American, and Australian crossbred cattle were examined in this study. There were significant (p<0.001) differences in fat content and fatty acid compositions between grain-fed and grass-fed beef. Grain-fed Hanwoo had significantly (p<0.001) lower saturated fatty acid (SFA) proportion but higher monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) proportion compared to grass-fed cattle. The proportion of oleic acid in grain-fed Hanwoo was significantly (p<0.001) higher than that in grass-fed Hanwoo, Australian crossbred, or American crossbred cattle. Grain-fed Hanwoo had significantly (p<0.001) lower percentages of drip loss and cooking loss compared to other cattle. Overall palatability panel scores of grain-fed cattle were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of grass-fed cattle. Consequently, sensory overall palatability was negatively correlated with proportions of SFA and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), but positively correlated with the proportion of MUFA. In particular, the proportion of oleic acid was strongly and positively correlated with fat content (r=0.91, p<0.001) and overall palatability (r=0.92, p<0.001). These results implied that high-concentrate grain-fed could increase intramuscular fat (IMF) content and the proportion of oleic acid, thus increasing the sensory palatability of Hanwoo beef.

The effects of acetate on enhancing the proliferation and preadipocyte differentiation of stromal vascular cells isolated from Hanwoo beef cattle

We investigated the effect of acetate on the proliferation and differentiation of bovine stromal‐vascular cells (SVC). SVC was isolated from the longissimus muscle collected directly from approximately 30‐month‐old Hanwoo beef cattle steers. After confluence, the differentiation was induced by 1‐methyl‐3‐isobutyl‐xanthine, dexamethasone, insulin, and rosiglitaszone for 2 days, and then subsequently cultured for 14 days. The cells were treated with different concentrations of acetate (0.125 to 2 mMol) throughout the differentiation period. Cell viability assay revealed a dose‐dependent increase in the proliferation of SVC. Monitoring of the differentiation through Oil Red‐O staining showed that treatment with acetate up to 1mMol significantly increased cell differentiation and fat accumulation. Supplementation of acetate in the media throughout the differentiation period also enhanced the induction of all differentiation markers. Acetate treatment unregulated the mRNA and protein expression of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα), Sterol regulatory element‐binding protein 1c (SREBP‐1c), fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP 4) and fatty acid synthase (FAS). These data suggests that acetate can enhance adipocyte differentiation from SVC isolated from Hanwoo beef cattle and possibly improve meat palatability through increased intramuscular fat deposition and reduce meat toughness through decreased fibrogenic differentiation.Support or Funding InformationThis work was carried out by the support of the Rural Development Administration Grant (Project No. PJ01268703).

Seroprevalence of the bovine leukemia virus among Korean native cattle in South Korea

Seroprevalence of the bovine leukemia virus among Korean native cattle in South Korea

Effects of Thawing Temperature of Frozen rare Breed Hanwoo (Korean Native Cattle) Semen on Viability of Refrozen Spermatozoa

Effects of Thawing Temperature of Frozen rare Breed Hanwoo (Korean Native Cattle) Semen on Viability of Refrozen Spermatozoa

Lack of germline mutation at codon 211 of the prion protein gene (PRNP) in Korean native cattle - Short communication.

Bovine prion diseases are composed of two types of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), classical BSE and atypical BSE. Recent studies have identified one case of atypical BSE with an E211K mutation. E211K is homologous to the human E200K mutation, which is related to familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), one of the familial forms of human prion diseases. To date, familial forms of prion diseases have not been reported in non-human animals. Because the familial forms of human prion diseases account for more than 10% of all human prion disease cases, the detection of the E211K mutation in healthy cattle is very important for verifying the role of this mutation as a familial form of BSE. To detect putative mutations related to familial BSE, specifically E211K in Korean native cattle (Hanwoo) and Korean dairy cattle (Holstein), we performed direct sequencing targeting codon 211 and the adjacent regions of the bovine prion protein (PRNP) gene in 384 Hanwoo and 152 Holstein cattle. We did not find the E211K mutation in any of the Korean cattle. Although we did not find the E211K mutation in Korean native cattle, E211K is a postulated mutation; therefore, further screening in other countries and larger samples is highly desirable.

한우 농가의 농작업 안전보건 실태 및 안전관리 수준 조사

한우 농가의 농작업 안전보건 실태 및 안전관리 수준 조사

Meat Quality, Fatty Acid Composition, Blood Parameters and Nucleotide Compounds Analysis Fed Long Chain Fatty Acid Calcium Salts in Hanwoo Steers (Korean Native Cattle)

Meat Quality, Fatty Acid Composition, Blood Parameters and Nucleotide Compounds Analysis Fed Long Chain Fatty Acid Calcium Salts in Hanwoo Steers (Korean Native Cattle)

Detection of superior genotype of fatty acid synthase in Korean native cattle by an environment-adjusted statistical model.

ObjectiveThis study examines the genetic factors influencing the phenotypes (four economic traits:oleic acid [C18:1], monounsaturated fatty acids, carcass weight, and marbling score) of Hanwoo.MethodsTo enhance the accuracy of the genetic analysis, the study proposes a new statistical model that excludes environmental factors. A statistically adjusted, analysis of covariance model of environmental and genetic factors was developed, and estimated environmental effects (covariate effects of age and effects of calving farms) were excluded from the model.ResultsThe accuracy was compared before and after adjustment. The accuracy of the best single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in C18:1 increased from 60.16% to 74.26%, and that of the two-factor interaction increased from 58.69% to 87.19%. Also, superior SNPs and SNP interactions were identified using the multifactor dimensionality reduction method in Table 1 to 4. Finally, high- and low-risk genotypes were compared based on their mean scores for each trait.ConclusionThe proposed method significantly improved the analysis accuracy and identified superior gene-gene interactions and genotypes for each of the four economic traits of Hanwoo.

Prevalence of Antibodies Against Coxiella burnetii in Korean Native Cattle, Dairy Cattle, and Dogs in South Korea.

Coxiella burnetii is a zoonotic agent and causes coxiellosis, which is a cause of reproductive failure in a range of animal species, including abortion and stillbirth and Q fever, which is most often characterized by an acute flu-like illness, mild pneumonia, and/or hepatitis in humans. While livestock are well recognized worldwide as a source of infection, the zoonotic risk of C. burnetii infection in companion animals such as dogs may be overlooked. For serological diagnosis, indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are generally considered good methods for prevalence surveys of coxiellosis. In this study, we conducted a nationwide survey of the seroprevalence of previous exposure to C. burnetii in dogs, dairy cattle, and Korean native cattle (a primarily beef breed) in South Korea. Serum samples obtained from 3087 Korean native cattle, 1224 dairy cattle, and 1023 dogs were collected from eight provinces in South Korea, and IFA and ELISA were performed to test for seropositivity. The prevalence of C. burnetii was 1.7% in Korean native cattle, 10.5% in dairy cattle, and 2.9% in dogs. This is the first report identifying previous exposure to C. burnetii in South Korean dogs. Furthermore, the presence of C. burnetii antibodies in companion and feral dogs indicates that dogs can be a potential reservoir species for zoonotic risk of C. burnetii infection in South Korea. Therefore, more detailed studies aiming to clarify epidemiological factors should be performed in the future.

Predictive performance of genomic selection methods for carcass traits in Hanwoo beef cattle: impacts of the genetic architecture

BackgroundHanwoo beef is known for its marbled fat, tenderness, juiciness and characteristic flavor, as well as for its low cholesterol and high omega 3 fatty acid contents. As yet, there has been no comprehensive investigation to estimate genomic selection accuracy for carcass traits in Hanwoo cattle using dense markers. This study aimed at evaluating the accuracy of alternative statistical methods that differed in assumptions about the underlying genetic model for various carcass traits: backfat thickness (BT), carcass weight (CW), eye muscle area (EMA), and marbling score (MS).MethodsAccuracies of direct genomic breeding values (DGV) for carcass traits were estimated by applying fivefold cross-validation to a dataset including 1183 animals and approximately 34,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).ResultsAccuracies of BayesC, Bayesian LASSO (BayesL) and genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) methods were similar for BT, EMA and MS. However, for CW, DGV accuracy was 7% higher with BayesC than with BayesL and GBLUP. The increased accuracy of BayesC, compared to GBLUP and BayesL, was maintained for CW, regardless of the training sample size, but not for BT, EMA, and MS. Genome-wide association studies detected consistent large effects for SNPs on chromosomes 6 and 14 for CW.ConclusionsThe predictive performance of the models depended on the trait analyzed. For CW, the results showed a clear superiority of BayesC compared to GBLUP and BayesL. These findings indicate the importance of using a proper variable selection method for genomic selection of traits and also suggest that the genetic architecture that underlies CW differs from that of the other carcass traits analyzed. Thus, our study provides significant new insights into the carcass traits of Hanwoo cattle.

Comparison of alternative approaches to single-trait genomic prediction using genotyped and non-genotyped Hanwoo beef cattle

BackgroundGenomic predictions from BayesA and BayesB use training data that include animals with both phenotypes and genotypes. Single-step methodologies allow additional information from non-genotyped relatives to be included in the analysis. The single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (SSGBLUP) method uses a relationship matrix computed from marker and pedigree information, in which missing genotypes are imputed implicitly. Single-step Bayesian regression (SSBR) extends SSGBLUP to BayesB-like models using explicitly imputed genotypes for non-genotyped individuals.MethodsCarcass records included 988 genotyped Hanwoo steers with 35,882 SNPs and 1438 non-genotyped steers that were measured for back-fat thickness (BFT), carcass weight (CWT), eye-muscle area, and marbling score (MAR). Single-trait pedigree-based BLUP, Bayesian methods using only genotyped individuals, SSGBLUP and SSBR methods were compared using cross-validation.ResultsMethods using genomic information always outperformed pedigree-based BLUP when the same phenotypic data were modeled from either genotyped individuals only or both genotyped and non-genotyped individuals. For BFT and MAR, accuracies were higher with single-step methods than with BayesB, BayesC and BayesCπ. Gains in accuracy with the single-step methods ranged from +0.06 to +0.09 for BFT and from +0.05 to +0.07 for MAR. For CWT, SSBR always outperformed the corresponding Bayesian methods that used only genotyped individuals. However, although SSGBLUP incorporated information from non-genotyped individuals, prediction accuracies were lower with SSGBLUP than with BayesC (π = 0.9999) and BayesB (π = 0.98) for CWT because, for this particular trait, there was a benefit from the mixture priors of the effects of the single nucleotide polymorphisms.ConclusionsSingle-step methods are the preferred approaches for prediction combining genotyped and non-genotyped animals. Alternative priors allow SSBR to outperform SSGBLUP in some cases.

Potential biomarkers as an indicator of vertical transmission of Johne's disease in a Korean native cattle farm.

Paratuberculosis (PTB) is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and is one of the most widespread and economically important diseases in cattle. After birth, calves are raised with natural breast feeding without separation from their mothers in most Korean native cattle (Hanwoo breed) farms. Vertical transmission of PTB has been reported, but the exact PTB infection route has not been revealed in Hanwoo farms. Calves of MAP seropositive dams were tested for MAP presence and MAP antibodies in feces and tissues. MAP was detected in calf tissues by using polymerase chain reaction. Expressions of genes reported to be prognostic biomarkers of MAP infection changed in both calves and cows (p < 0.05). Expression of two genes (HGF and SERPINE1) were significantly decreased in MAP-infected cattle and their offspring (p < 0.01). The results suggest that biomarker gene expression profiles can be useful in detecting early stage MAP infection. Based on the results, complete eradication of MAP may be possible if accurate diagnostic methods to detect infected calves are added to the current PTB eradication strategy, which, because infected individuals are likely to develop into fecal MAP shedders at any time, includes isolation of new born calves and feeding sterilized colostrum.

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitory and Antioxidant Activities of Enzymatic Hydrolysates of Korean Native Cattle (Hanwoo) Myofibrillar Protein.

The purpose of this study was to determine the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and antioxidant activities of myofibrillar protein hydrolysates (HMPHs) of different molecular weights (<3 and <10 kDa) derived from Korean native cattle (Hanwoo breed) using a commercially available and inexpensive enzyme (Alkaline-AK). HMPH of both tested molecular weights had ACE inhibitory activity. Among the antioxidant activities, iron chelation and nitrite scavenging activities were higher in low-molecular-weight peptide of HMPH (<3 kDa), whereas 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity was higher in high-molecular-weight peptide of HMPH (<10 kDa). HMPH did not induce cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 cells at concentrations of 5–20 mg/mL. These results indicate that HMPH can be cheaply produced using Alkaline-AK and applied as a potential ACE inhibitor and antioxidant.

Characteristics and Health Benefit of Highly Marbled Wagyu and Hanwoo Beef.

This review addresses the characteristics and health benefit of highly marbled Wagyu and Hanwoo beef. Marbling of Wagyu and Hanwoo beef has been increased in Japan and Korea to meet domestic consumer preferences. Wagyu and Hanwoo cattle have high potential of accumulating intramuscular fat (IMF) and producing highly marbled beef. The IMF content varies depending on the feeding of time, finishing diet, and breed type. IMF increases when feeding time is increased. The rate of IMF increase in grain-fed cattle is faster than that in pasture-fed cattle. Fatty acid composition are also different depending on breeds. Highly marbled Wagyu and Hanwoo beef have higher proportions of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) due to higher concentrations of oleic acid. MUFAs have little effect on total cholesterol. They are heart-healthy dietary fat because they can lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol while increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. Clinical trials have indicated that highly marbled beef does not increase LDL-cholesterol. This review also emphasizes that high oleic acid beef such as Wagyu and Hanwoo beef might be able to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

경북 일부지역 축산(한우) 농업인의 인수공통감염병 인지도

경북 일부지역 축산(한우) 농업인의 인수공통감염병 인지도

PCR-based Detection of Bovine Papillomavirus DNA from the Cutaneous Papillomas and Surrounding Environments in the Korean Native Cattle, Hanwoo

Two 1-year old calves of Korean Native cattle (Hanwoo) presented cutaneous papillomas on the face and neck. Type 2 bovine papillomavirus (BPV-2) was identified in the cutaneous papillomas based on BPV-specific PCR and subsequent DNA sequencing analysis results. Using DNA samples extracted from two affected calves and unaffected animals reared in the same stable, BPV-2 was not only detected in the cutaneous papillomas of affected animals based on BPV-specific PCR analysis, but also detected in normal skins, hairs, and their environments based on nested PCR analysis. BPV-2 was also detected in DNA samples isolated from animals and environments of that distinct stable with affected calves. However, no BPV-2 was detected in the drinking water of both stables (infected and unaffected). These findings concluded that BPV-2 was transmitted by direct or indirect contact, not by drinking water. This is the first report to show molecular evidence of BPV-2 infection. Rapid and precise molecular identification can be used to screen BPV-2 in cattle farms to understand the biological roles of BPV in animal diseases.

Effect of surgical castration treatments on blood parameters and behavioral characteristics in Korean native cattle (Hanwoo)

Effect of surgical castration treatments on blood parameters and behavioral characteristics in Korean native cattle (Hanwoo)

Globalization and Transformation of Local Livestock Raising : Focused on the Discursive Construction of Korean Native Cattle and their Strategic Industrialization

Globalization and Transformation of Local Livestock Raising : Focused on the Discursive Construction of Korean Native Cattle and their Strategic Industrialization

한우 사육자 작업환경 및 작업복과 보호구 착용 실태 분석

This study examined the working site environment of Korean native cattle raising farmers and their actual condition of wearing personal protective equipment as part of preventing disasters during agricultural work. To this end, 160 Korean cattle raising farmers were surveyed and a site visit was performed on 10 farms. According to an examination of the cattle breeding environment, the major harmful factors were in the following order: fine dust (12.8%), organic feed dust (10.3%), contact with cattle (9.7%), manure (8.2%), germs and viruses (8.1%), harmful gases (7.4), contact with obstacles (6.7), and temperature (6.6%). The current status of the rate of wearing protection was in the order of gloves (20.9%), working hats (19.7%), boots (19.6%), masks (10.9%), protective clothing (8.9%), and specialized working clothing (6.6%). Nevertheless, most Korean cattle raising farmers recognized the risks when they did not wear protective equipment and the need for wearing protectors, but they mostly did not wear personal protective equipment due to a lack of knowledge on the selection of appropriate personal protective equipment and the discomfort they experience when they put on protectors. Even when they put on protective equipment, 38% was inappropriate for the farming work environment. Given the research results, improvements on and the development of specialized working clothing and personal protective equipment to protect farmers from harmful and dangerous materials from the cattle nurturing environment is necessary. Overall, based on the study data, objectified data collection, a determination of the necessary performance elements of personal protective equipment, and R&D will be needed through an on-site current status investigation.