Study of proteins associated with meat quality phenotypes in Nelore cattle

Abstract

Brazil is one of the leading producers and exporters of beef and its competitive advantage is mainly attributed to the cost of production of Brazilian beef, which is one of the lowest in the world. To increase its importance in the market, one must adapt its meat production to the standards established by external market. Among the quality attributes, tenderness, amount and composition of intramuscular fat (IMF) can influence the sensory characteristics and nutritional value of beef. Selection for meat quality has not been effective in breeding programs of beef cattle in Brazil. Sequencing, genotyping and expression analysis technologies on a genome-scale have contributed to the knowledge of the genetic basis of variation and for the earlier selection in cattle. A previous project entitled "Genetic Strategies for quality beef production" produced 796 steers, offspring of 34 sires representing the diversity of Nelore. The steers were evaluated for feed efficiency and meat quality and both sires and offspring had their genotypes analyzed in the Illumina SNP BovineHD chip. This project identified genomic regions associated with production characteristics and meat quality. The present project aims to achieve a better understanding of the genetic mechanisms involved in variation in quantitative traits highlighted by the association analysis. Therefore, it is proposed to complement the analysis of genome wide association to include new phenotypes, expanding the functional analysis of the genome (RNA, microRNA and proteins), assess the significance of CNVs and train human resources in the areas of bioinformatics and genomics. (AU)