Identification of TGFBR2 gene (SNP g.5112179A>G) associated with carcass characteristics and meat quality in sheep

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the transforming growth factor, beta receptor II (TGFBR2) gene, for the association with carcass characteristics and meat quality. This study used 95 samples of rams consisting of 9 garut composite sheep (GCS), 12 garut sheep (GS), 9 compass agrinac sheep (CAS), 10 barbados cross sheep (BCS), 10 jonggol sheep (JS), and 45 javanese thintailed (JTT) with the same treatment and condition. The polymorphism identification of the TGFBR2 gene was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) with SNP target g.5112179A>G. This study observed carcass characteristics and meat quality, including body weight, hot carcass, carcass percentage, carcass length, cold carcass, meat pH, tenderness, cooking loss, and water-holding capacity. The association between the TGFBR2 gene with carcass characteristics and meat quality was analyzed using a general linear model (GLM). The result showed that the TGFBR2 gene was significantly (P<0.05) associated with carcass length, carcass percentage, and tenderness. The TGFBR2 gene had two genotypes, AA and AG, with the highest genotype frequency being the AG genotype. The AA genotype was associated with a higher level of carcass percentage and tenderness, while the AG genotype was associated with a higher level of carcass length. It can be concluded that the TGFBR2 gene reveals a potential candidate gene to select sheep meat with high carcass characteristics and meat quality.