ARS | Publication request: TECHNICAL NOTE: DIRECT GENOTYPING OF THE DOUBLE-MUSCLING LOCUS (MH) IN PIEDMONTESE AND BELGIAN BLUE CATTLE BY FLUORESCENT PCR

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 20, 1999
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Alternative forms of a gene called myostatin cause double muscling in cattle. Cattle with two copies of some forms of the gene are readily identified by their heavily muscled visual appearance. Cattle with one copy produce leaner carcasses but can not be visually identified. Gene sequences for two forms of the gene were used to develop a flourescent test. The test uses standard genotyping technology to determine whether animals have zero, one, or two copies of the form of myostatin causing double muscling. The test could be used to manage the level of double muscling desired in a cattle herd.

Technical Abstract: A simple PCR-based allele detection system has been developed to assist in the management of the two most prevalent double muscled (mh) breeds in the U.S. Application of this assay will permit the implementation of structured mating systems dependent on precise genotypes at the mh locus. The genetic assay uses standard fluorescent genotyping technology, and relies on the unique nucleotide composition of wild-type and mutant alleles of myostatin, the gene underlying the double muscled phenotype. We present data demonstrating the efficacy of this fluorescent primer-based PCR assay in genotyping animal populations carrying normal and/or mutant alleles of the myostatin gene.