Dating the onset of some mutations in myostatin gene determining the double muscled phenotype in beef cattle

Abstract

Growth differentiation factor 8 (GDF8) or myostatin is a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily, which includes proteins that mediate key events in cell growth and development through signal transduction. In the absence of myostatin, the skeletal musculature of mice is two to three times greater in mass than that of wild-type mice (McPherron et al., 1997). Several cattle breeds are characterized by double muscling phenotype and GDF8 has been extensively investigated in cattle.A large number of variants have been identified in these species,most of which are silent or neutral.........

Keywords

• double muscled, myostatin, linkage disequilibrium, allele age