Tenderness In Cattle Research Articles

Associations Between c.2832A > G Polymorphism of CAST Gene and Meat Tenderness in Cattle: A Meta-Analysis

Associations Between c.2832A > G Polymorphism of CAST Gene and Meat Tenderness in Cattle: A Meta-Analysis

The correlation between Longissimus thoracis muscle ageing extent, growth and carcass traits in Simmental bulls: preliminary results

Submitted 2020-07-24 | Accepted 2020-09-16 | Available 2020-12-01 https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2020.23.mi-fpap.282-289 A common practice to improve meat quality is aging under controlled conditions, which results in improved tenderness, a key factor in the consumer acceptance of beef meat. Among other traits, the tenderness and the effect of ageing are also genetically determined. Therefore, a trial was performed to assess the effect of ageing in the progeny of young bulls included in the routine breeding program for Simmental breed in Slovenia. In the trial, 127 young bulls were included, and the shear force of grilled Longissimus thoracis muscle was measured fresh and after three weeks of ageing. There was a significant difference between the fresh and aged muscle in shear force, but growth and other carcass traits did not affect it as it was expected. We assume that after enlarging the number of animals, the data will be usable to be included in the genetic evaluation of the breeding program for Simmental breed in Slovenia. Keywords: Longissimus thoracis, beef, ageing, shear force References Carvalho, M. E. et al. (2014). Heat shock and structural proteins associated with meat tenderness in Nellore beef cattle, a Bos indicus breed. Meat Science, 96, 1318-1324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2013.11.014 Dikeman, M. and Devine, C. (2014). Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences. Academic Press. Dikeman, M. E. et al. (2005). Phenotypic ranges and relationships among carcass and meat palatability traits for fourteen cattle breeds, and heritabilities and expected progeny differences for Warner-Bratzler shear force in three beef cattle breeds. Journal of Animal Science, 83, 2461-2467. https://doi.org/10.2527/2005.83102461x Florek, M. et al. (2007). Changes of physicochemical properties of bullocks and heifers meat during 14 days of ageing under vacuum. Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 57(3), 281–287. Hanzelkova, S. et al. (2011). The effect of breed, sex and aging time on tenderness of beef meat. Acta Veterinaria Brno, 80, 191-196. https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201180020191 Harper, G. S. (1999). Trends in skeletal muscle biology and the understanding of toughness in beef. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 50, 1105-1129. https://doi.org/10.1071/AR98191 Holloway, J. W. and Wu, J. (2019). Tenderness Intrinsic Character. In: Red Meat Science and Production. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7860-7_5 Koohmaraie, M. et al. (2002). Meat tenderness and muscle growth: Is there any relationship? Meat Science, 62, 345-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1740(02)00127-4 Lawrence, T. E. et al. (2001). Evaluation of electric belt grill, forced-air convection oven, and electric broiler cookery methods for beef tenderness research. Meat Science, 58(3), 239–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1740(00)00159-5 Miller, M. F. et al. (1995). Retail consumer acceptance of beef tenderized with calcium chloride. Journal of Animal Science, 73, 2308-2314. https://doi.org/10.2527/1995.7382308x Purslow, P. P. (2005). Intramuscular connective tissue and its role in meat quality. Meat Science, 70, 435-447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2004.06.028 Sazili, A. Q. et al. (2004). The effect of altered growth rates on the calpain proteolytic system and meat tenderness in cattle. Meat Science, 66, 195-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1740(03)00091-3 Shackelford, S. D., Koohmaraie, M. and Wheeler, T. L. (1995). Effects of slaughter age on meat tenderness and USDA carcass maturity scores of beef females. Journal of Animal Science, 73, 3304-3309. https://doi.org/10.2527/1995.73113304x Splan, R. K. et al. (2002). Estimates of parameters between direct and maternal genetic effects for weaning weight and direct genetic effects for carcass traits in crossbred cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 80(12), 3107-3111. https://doi.org/10.2527/2002.80123107x Wall, K. R. et al. (2019). Grilling temperature effects on tenderness, juiciness, flavor and volatile aroma compounds of aged ribeye, strip loin, and top sirloin steaks. Meat Science, 150, 141–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2018.11.009 Wulf, D. M. et al. (1996). Genetic influences on beef Longissimus palatability in Charolais- and Limousin-sired steers and heifers. Journal of Animal Science, 74, 2394-2405. https://doi.org/10.2527/1996.74102394x Yancey, J. W. S., Wharton, M. D. and Apple, J. K. (2011). Cookery method and end-point temperature can affect the Warner-Bratzler shear force, cooking loss, and internal cooked color of beef longissimus steaks. Meat Science, 88, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2010.11.020 Zwambag, A. et al. (2013). Heritability of beef tenderness at different aging times and across breed comparisons. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, 93, 307312. https://doi.org/10.4141/CJAS2012-100

Heritability estimates of meat sensory characteristics are a function of the number of panellists and their inter-correlations

The objective of the present study was to quantify, using simulated data, the impact on estimated heritability of varying the number of panellists and their inter-correlations using meat sensory tenderness in cattle as an example. Estimated parameters from actual sensory-based tenderness scores from 9 individual panellists on 1252 beef cattle were used to parameterise the simulation. A single “tenderness score” for each of 10 panellists was simulated for 15,000 cattle. Heritability estimates were calculated for each of the 10 panellists individually as well as the mean score per animal for all n combinations of panellists. Heritability estimates improved with increasing number of panellists in line with expectations from a deterministic equation. The increase in heritability was due to a reduction in the residual variance, albeit the rate of reduction in residual variance declined with each additional panellist included in the calculated mean tenderness score. Results highlight the importance of reporting the number of panellist scores per animal as well as their inter-correlations in sensory-based studies.

Allele- and parent-of-origin-specific effects on expression of the KCNJ11 gene: A candidate for meat tenderness in cattle.

In contrast to the Mendelian inheritance model, parental alleles can contribute unequally to gene expression, which may result in phenotypic variance among individuals and bias in the predicted additive effect of molecular markers associated with production traits. Given the need to understand the effects of allelic variation and parent-of-origin effects on the expression of genes with a commercial interest in cattle, we analyzed the expression of KCNJ11 (potassium inwardly rectifying channel, subfamily J, member 11), which was previously described as a functional candidate gene for meat tenderness. Allele-specific and parent-of-origin-dependent expression of this gene were assessed in bovine muscle using the rs379610823 single nucleotide polymorphism as a reference. Biallelic expression was observed; however, the T allele was expressed at significantly higher levels than the C allele. Furthermore, increased expression of KCNJ11 was found in animals harboring the maternal T allele. This study is the first to describe the differential allelic expression of bovine KCNJ11. Our findings are important for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the pattern of KCNJ11 expression and its potential impact on the phenotypic variation of meat tenderness in Nelore beef cattle. This reinforces the need for further investigation of allelic- and parent-of-origin expression deviation in genetic markers eligible for the selection of target traits.

Characterization of a novel CAPN3 transcript generated by alternative splicing in cattle.

Calpain-3 (CAPN3) is a member of the calpain family of Ca(2+)-regulated cysteine proteases, which play an important role in sarcomere remodeling and mitochondrial protein turnover, and thus, regulating beef tenderness in cattle. Currently, multiple CAPN3 transcripts have been detected in human, monkey, rat, and rabbit. However, whether this transcript is present in cattle remains unknown. In this study, we identified 2 CAPN3 transcripts in the skeletal muscle individuals of local black cattle from Jilin, China. One transcript corresponded to the known full-length protein and was referred to as CAPN3a, while the second transcript did not contain exons 2-19 and contained a single-nucleotide insert in the penultimate base of exon 1 compared to CAPN3a; this protein was referred to as CAPN3b. The expression level of CAPN3b was approximately 50-fold lower than that of CAPN3a. Moreover, CAPN3b mRNA was not translated into a functional protein because it had lost essential domains according to bioinformatic analysis. Our results not provide a foundation for understanding the function of CAPN3, but also are useful for further elucidating the effect of CAPN3 on meat quality in cattle.

Altering dietary calcium does not influence tenderness in cattle fed Zilmax (2013)

Introduction Tenderness is a key contributor to the sensory attributes of beef, and production practices that decrease tenderness are generally viewed as unfavorable. Zilmax (Merck Animal Health, Summit, NJ) is a potent beta-adrenergic agonist that results in dramatic improvements in carcass weight when fed to cattle, normally for a period of 20 days prior to harvest. Zilmax increases muscle mass at the expense of body fat, and these changes can have favorable effects on retail yield and overall value of beef carcasses. One of the unfavorable side effects of Zilmax is a decrease in meat tenderness. Aging of beef is one means of improving tenderness. During the aging process, proteolytic enzymes degrade the myofibrillar proteins that contribute to the perceptions of tough meat. Activity of these enzymes is stimulated by the presence of calcium ions, and various strategies aimed at increasing intracellular concentrations of calcium have been investigated as a means of improving beef tenderness.

Skeletal muscle proteomics in livestock production

Proteomics allows studying large numbers of proteins, including their post-translational modifications. Proteomics has been, and still are, used in numerous studies on skeletal muscle. In this article, we focus on its use in the study of livestock muscle development and meat quality. Changes in protein profiles during myogenesis are described in cattle, pigs and fowl using comparative analyses across different ontogenetic stages. This approach allows a better understanding of the key stages of myogenesis and helps identifying processes that are similar or divergent between species. Genetic variability of muscle properties analysed by the study of hypertrophied cattle and sheep are discussed. Biological markers of meat quality, particularly tenderness in cattle, pigs and fowl are presented, including protein modifications during meat ageing in cattle, protein markers of PSE meat in turkeys and of post-mortem muscle metabolism in pigs. Finally, we discuss the interest of proteomics as a tool to understand better biochemical mechanisms underlying the effects of stress during the pre-slaughter period on meat quality traits. In conclusion, the study of proteomics in skeletal muscles allows generating large amounts of scientific knowledge that helps to improve our understanding of myogenesis and muscle growth and to control better meat quality.

Variability of μ-Calpain and Calpastatin genes in cattle

A preliminary analysis on the variability of μ-Calpain (CAPN1) and Calpastatin (CAST) genes in six cattle breeds was carried out, focusing the attention on CAPN1 g.5709C>G, CAPN1 g.6545C>T, and CAST g.282C>G SNPs, which have been suggested to affect beef tenderness in cattle. The results indicate that the two genes are polymorphic in all the analysed breeds, with significant between-breed differences. On the basis of their variability, only CAPN1 g.6545C>T and CAST g.282C>G SNPs seem appropriate to be considered as potential markers for beef tenderness.

Effects of pre-harvest supplemental chlorate on beef carcass and meat quality

Effects of feeding sodium chlorate on carcass quality, tenderness and color stability were evaluated. Heifers ( n = 64) were fed chlorate at either 0.01% or 0.05% of body weight (BW) in the last feeding or 0.01% for the last 5 d before harvest, while control cattle received no chlorate. During the 12 h period between feed withdrawal and transport to the harvest facility, the cattle were provided water containing either no sodium chlorate or sodium chlorate (approximately 30 mM). Feed treatments at 0.01% of BW produced higher marbling scores than feeding 0.01% of BW for 5 d. However, neither of these treatments produced marbling scores that were different from non-treated controls. Water supplementation increased tenderness in cattle fed 0.01% of BW for 5 d, but decreased tenderness in cattle fed 0.05% of BW at the last feeding. Although tenderness differences existed, it is not clear whether or not they were caused by the feed or water treatments or by pre-existing variation in the cattle. Neither feed nor water supplementation affected color stability. These data suggest that chlorate preparations could be used to reduce pathogens without adversely impacting meat quality or display life. However, further research is needed to further substantiate these findings.

The effect of altered growth rates on the calpain proteolytic system and meat tenderness in cattle

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of growth pattern on the calpain system and meat tenderization. Twenty-four Friesian calves were randomly allocated to three treatment groups: FAST (fast growth rate), SLOW (severely restricted growth rate) and ALTER (restricted growth for 30 days followed by fast growth rate). Four animals from each group were slaughtered on day 32 or 45 after altering the growth rates. Samples of M. longissimus dorsi were rapidly frozen at slaughter for protein analysis by Western blotting. Restricted growth reduced the immunoreactivity of a calpastatin band (135 kDa) measured at 24 h postmortem. Immunoreactivity associated with the large subunit of μ- or m-calpain appeared to be unaffected by growth patterns. Shear force measurements taken after 14 days of conditioning were positively related to 135 kDa calpastatin at 24 h postmortem. In this study there was no clear relationship between shear force and growth pattern.

Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Muscle Characteristics of Beef Cattle Fed a High Energy Diet for Varying Lengths of Time

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the effect of electrical stimulation on quality and palatability of cattle fed a high energy diet for various lengths of time. Stimulation improved tenderness in cattle that were fed a high energy diet for times ranging from 0–210 days. However, the greatest improvement was in cattle that were not fed the high energy diet. The amount of improvement in tenderness decreased as time on a high energy diet increased. Flavor and juiciness scores, sarcomere length, and myofibril fragmentation index were not affected by electrical stimulation. Stimulation significantly improved lean color, firmness and texture and decreased the incidence of heat‐ring in muscle at 24 hr postmortem.