Ultrasonic measurements of fat thickness (FAT) and ribeye area (REA) were analyzed together with weight (WT), scrotal circumference (SC) and age data from 385 yearling Hereford bulls representing 45 sires. Additional variables created were 100*REA/WT (REACWT) and 365-d adjusted REA (AREA). Multiplicative age adjustment for AREA was calculated from linear regression of REA on age. Heritabilities...

Feeder cattle prices are determined by the interaction of many factors. This study uses 1986 and 1987 Kansas feeder cattle auction data to investigate the impact of a wide variety of physical characteristics, many of which have not been used in previous studies on feeder cattle prices. Unlike previous studies, this analysis explicitly incorporates changes in feeder cattle market fundamentals du...

The myostatin (MSTN)-null phenotype in mammals is characterized by extreme gains in skeletal muscle mass or "double muscling" as the cytokine negatively regulates skeletal muscle growth. Recent attempts, however, to reproduce a comparable phenotype in zebrafish have failed. Several aspects of MSTN biology in the fishes differ significantly from those in mammals and at least two distinct paralog...

One hundred and eighty-nine Thoroughbred horses that had won Graded Stakes races in North America were genotyped with the Illumina Equine SNP50 bead chip. Association tests using PLINK to determine whether any SNPs were associated with optimum racing distance (7 furlongs and under compared to 8-10 furlongs) identified a locus on ECA18 that was statistically significant (-log 10 EMP2=1.63) at th...

Spectrophotometric measures were used to determine the redness:browness (R630/R580) of 4238 lamb longissimus muscle after 3 days under simulated display. The results were analysed using linear mixed effects models. Environmental factors represented by effects such as kill group and site of production produced the greatest variation of up to 2.76 units in R630/R580. Isocitrate dehydrogenase acti...