Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Beta-2- Adrenergic Receptor Gene with Growth, Carcass and Meat Characteristics in Beef Steers and Heifers

Abstract

A total of 693 beef steers and heifers of six breeds were utilized in an association study. Traits analyzed were birth weight (BW), weaning age (WA), adjusted weaning weight (WW), hot carcass weight (HCW), marbling score (MS), 12th rib fat thickness (FT), Longissimus dorsi muscle area (LM), estimated kidney, pelvic and heart fat (KPH); and yield grade (YG). Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) gene were evaluated as markers for beef traits. One SNP was uninformative and was discarded. There was an interaction of gender by A11C SNP on WA (P<0.05), WW (P=0.1) and KPH (P=0.05). An interaction was detected between the C1027T SNP and gender on WA (P<0.05) and WW (P<0.1). There was no association (P>0.1) between A11C, C41T and C1027T SNP's with the remaining traits. These results suggest that SNP's for ADRB2 gene might be useful for WA, WW and KPH traits.