The porcine corticotropin-releasing hormone(CRH) gene is a functional-positional candidate for quantitative tract loci on porcine chromosome 4 with major effects on growth and carcass composition. In addition, the central role of CRH in the neuroendocrine response to stress implicates the CRH gene as a functional candidate for meat quality. Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) ...

This study aimed at characterising 606 crossbred pigs of three commercially available breed types in terms of their carcass and meat quality. Breed G and H were German Large White (LW)×German Landrace (LR) sows sired with Pietrain (PI) boars, i.e. PI×(LW×LR). Breed S was 25% Duroc (DU), i.e. PI×(DU×LR). Most of the parameters were affected by breed and/or date of slaughter. The meat of crossbre...

The major goals of the poultry industry are to increase the carcass yield and to reduce carcass fatness, mainly the abdominal fat pad. The increase in poultry meat consumption has guided the selection process toward fast-growing broilers with a reduced feed conversion ratio. Intensive selection has led to great improvements in economic traits such as body weight gain, feed efficiency, and breas...

One hundred thirty-one pigs representing seven different breed groups (Minnesota No. 1 [M], Pietrain [P], Yorkshire [Y], and crosses PY, P[PY], P[NP], and P[YP]P) and three halothane gene genotypes (NN, Nn, and nn) were tested for breed, sex, and halothane gene (HAL) effects on growth and carcass performance. Breed effects were significant for all traits measured. Sex effect was significant for...

To determine the relationship between total body water (TBW) fraction and local water content measured in the skin (SW) this study assessed eight anesthetized piglets in an overhydration model. TBW was assessed by deuterium oxide dilution and body mass measurements taken throughout the experiments, and by whole body carcass analysis at the end of each experiment. Additionally, extracellular wat...

A total of 120 pigs (60 barrows and 60 gilts; TR4 × PIC 1050; 54.4 kg initial BW) were used in an 83-d study to evaluate the effects of added fat in corn- and sorghum-based diets on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and carcass fat quality. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with grain source (corn or sorghum) and added fat (0, 2.5, or 5% choice white grease; CWG) as facto...

Cancer patients present high mobilization of host protein, with a decrease in lean body mass and body fat depletion occurring in parallel to neoplastic growth. Since leucine is one of the principal amino acids used by skeletal muscle for energy, we investigated the changes in body composition of pregnant tumor-bearing rats after a leucine-supplemented diet. Sixty pregnant Wistar rats divided in...

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary administration of a badrenergic agonist (BAA; L-644,969) and male sex condition (ram vs wether) on muscle growth and meat quality of Dorset × Romonov lambs believed to be heterozygous for the callipyge gene. At approximately 17 wk of age, lambs were blocked by weight within each sex condition and randomly assigned to BAA treatm...

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the carcass characteristics of Kanniadu kids under different housing systems viz., intensive, semi-intensive and extensive system of rearing. Twenty-four weaned Kanniadu kids were selected at random and they were allotted to three different treatments, comprising of eight animals in each group. The dressing percentage of intensive and semiintensively rear...

One-hundred-ninety-two weanling pigs from two separate trials, (initial weight 6.0 and 5.6 kg) and 400 growing-finishing pigs (initial weight 17 kg) were fed normal and high lysine corn diets containing four levels of lysine in a 2 X 4 factorial arrangement. Crossbred (Large White X Landrace X Duroc) pigs were used in all experiments. The objectives of the experiments were to (1) compare normal...