Double Muscling in Cattle: Genes, Husbandry, Carcasses and Meat
Open Access
- 20 September 2012
- Vol. 2 (3), 472-506
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ani2030472
Abstract
Molecular biology has enabled the identification of the mechanisms whereby inactive myostatin increases skeletal muscle growth in double-muscled (DM) animals. Myostatin is a secreted growth differentiation factor belonging to the transforming growth factor-β superfamily. Mutations make the myostatin gene inactive, resulting in muscle hypertrophy. The relationship between the different characteristics of DM cattle are defined with possible consequences for livestock husbandry. The extremely high carcass yield of DM animals coincides with a reduction in the size of most vital organs. As a consequence, DM animals may be more susceptible to respiratory disease, urolithiasis, lameness, nutritional stress, heat stress and dystocia, resulting in a lower robustness. Their feed intake capacity is reduced, necessitating a diet with a greater nutrient density. The modified myofiber type is responsible for a lower capillary density, and it induces a more glycolytic metabolism. There are associated changes for the living animal and post-mortem metabolism alterations, requiring appropriate slaughter conditions to maintain a high meat quality. Intramuscular fat content is low, and it is characterized by more unsaturated fatty acids, providing healthier meat for the consumer. It may not always be easy to find a balance between the different disciplines underlying the livestock husbandry of DM animals to realize a good performance and health and meat quality.Keywords
This publication has 190 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comparative proteomics of skeletal muscle mitochondria from myostatin-null miceCell Biology International Reports, 2011
- Acute daily psychological stress causes increased atrophic gene expression and myostatin-dependent muscle atrophyAmerican Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2010
- Growth-differentiation factor-8 (GDF-8) in the uterus: its identification and functional significance in the golden hamsterReproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 2009
- Molecular profiles of Quadriceps muscle in myostatin-null mice reveal PI3K and apoptotic pathways as myostatin targetsBMC Genomics, 2009
- Embryonic and tissue-specific regulation of myostatin-1 and -2 gene expression in zebrafishGeneral and Comparative Endocrinology, 2007
- Lack of myostatin results in excessive muscle growth but impaired force generationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Target genes of myostatin loss-of-function in muscles of late bovine fetusesBMC Genomics, 2007
- DJ-1, a cancer- and Parkinson's disease-associated protein, stabilizes the antioxidant transcriptional master regulator Nrf2Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Transcriptional co-activator PGC-1α drives the formation of slow-twitch muscle fibresNature, 2002
- A deletion in the bovine myostatin gene causes the double–muscled phenotype in cattleNature Genetics, 1997