<i>GH1</i> as candidate gene for variability of meat production traits in Piemontese cattle

Abstract

Summary The aim of this study was to analyse the polymorphism of the intron 3 of GH1 gene in the Piemontese cattle breed and to investigate its possible associations with meat production traits. The polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) analysis revealed two alleles, GH1 C and GH1 D , with frequencies of 0.842 and 0.158, respectively. The relationships of the polymorphism with 14 in vivo traits and four meat characteristics were analysed. For the in vivo traits none of the substitution or dominance effects were significant, indicating that the variability of the traits is not related to the polymorphism of the gene. Significant effects were observed for cooking losses and tenderness at day 11, indicating the superiority of the GH1 C allele over GH1 D . However, before any conclusions can be drawn, further studies are necessary, possibly including a larger number of DD genotypes.