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Myostatin and its implications on animal breeding: a review
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Myostatin and its implications on animal breeding: a review

R.H.S. Bellinge, D.A. Liberles, S.P.A. Iaschi, P.A. O'Brien and G.K. Tay
Animal Genetics, Vol.36(1), pp.1-6
2005
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Abstract

Myostatin, or growth and differentiation factor 8 (GDF8), has been identified as the factor causing a phenotype known as double muscling, in which a series of mutations render the gene inactive, and therefore, unable to regulate muscle fibre deposition. This phenotype occurs at a high frequency in some breeds of cattle such as Belgian Blue and Peidmontese. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that there has been positive selection pressure for non-synonymous mutations within the myostatin gene family, around the time of the divergence of cattle, sheep and goats, and these positive selective pressures on non-ancestral myostatin are relatively recent. To date, there have been reports of nine mutations in coding regions of myostatin that cause non-synonymous changes, of which three cause missense mutations. including two in exon 1 and one in exon 2. The remaining six mutations, located in exons 2 and 3, result in premature stop codons, which are the mutations responsible for the double-muscling phenotype. Unfortunately, breed management problems exist for double-muscled cattle, such as birthing difficulties, which can be overcome through genetically controlled breeding programmes, as shown in this review.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.255 Musculoskeletal Disorders
1.255.1761 Muscle Wasting
Web Of Science research areas
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Genetics & Heredity
ESI research areas
Plant & Animal Science
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