Myostatin or growth and differentiation factor 8 (GDF8), has been known as the factor causing double muscling phenotypes in which a series of mutations make the myostatin protein inactive, hence disabling it to regulate the deposition of muscle fibre. This phenotype happens with high frequency in a breed of sheep known as the Texel. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) studies show that a portion of t...

myostatin or growth and differentiation factor 8 (gdf8), has been known as the factor causing double muscling phenotypes in which a series of mutations make the myostatin protein inactive, hence disabling it to regulate the deposition of muscle fibre. this phenotype happens with high frequency in a breed of sheep known as the texel. quantitative trait loci (qtl) studies show that a portion of t...

INTRODUCTION Beef breeding programmes have developed significantly in the last 24 years since the 1 WCGALP. Breeding programs as defined here include the definition of breeding objectives, recording and genetic evaluation programs to develop selection criteria and developments in selection and mating technology to optimize genetic progress for the objective. Available today are tools for the im...

Beef cattle breeders are increasingly being offered gene marker tests for important traits in the breeding objective. They must make an economically rational decision whether to use these tests. Besides a potential immediate effect in seedstock sales, gene marker tests will affect the genetic improvement rate in the population. To examine the returns in a multi-trait breeding objective a pseudo...

The global amphibian crisis has resulted in renewed interest in captive breeding as a conservation tool for amphibians. Although captive breeding and reintroduction are controversial management actions, amphibians possess a number of attributes that make them potentially good models for such programs. We reviewed the extent and effectiveness of captive breeding and reintroduction programs for a...