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Title: COMPARATIVE MAPPING OF BTA15 AND HSA11 INCLUDING A REGION CONTAINING A QTL FOR MEAT TENDERNESS

Author
item Rexroad, Caird
item Bennett, Gary
item Stone, Roger
item Keele, John
item Fahrenkrug, Scott
item Freking, Bradley - Brad
item Kappes, Steven - Steve
item Smith, Timothy - Tim

Submitted to: Mammalian Genome
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/13/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: We have provided markers in the region of the bovine chromosome 15 tenderness quantitative trait locus that will be useful in refining the interval and that will support marker assisted selection. Five genes have been added to the comparative map, of which two are positional candidates.

Technical Abstract: Variation in meat tenderness has been identified as a prime concern to beef consumers. Understanding the biology of meat tenderness is therefore of vital importance to the cattle industry. Genetic variation, in addition to many environmental factors, influences the tenderness of beef products. Identification of the underlying genetic components that affect meat tenderness will facilitate the identification of breeding animals carrying alleles that correlate with tender beef, and help develop breeding programs that provide more consistency in the product. The starting point of the present study was the identification of a chromosomal region on BTA15 carrying one or more loci affecting tenderness. To provide a resource of genetic markers to support marker assisted selection (MAS) and to identify potential positional candidate genes, a comparative map of BTA15 and human chromosome 11 (HSA11) was constructed. The results were the addition of five genes to the HSA11/BTA15 comparative map, the discovery of seven microsatellite markers within the quantitative trait locus (QTL) interval, and identification of two positional candidate loci (CALCA, MYOD1). The five newly mapped genes help define the boundaries of seven alternating blocks of conserved synteny between BTA15 and BTA29 on HSA11. In addition to supporting MAS, the seven markers that map within the QTL interval will be useful for genotyping the resource herd with the goal of refining the QTL 95% confidence interval.