Advanced Skeletal Ossification Is Associated with Genetic Variants in Chronologically Young Beef Heifers.

ABSTRACT: Osteogenesis is a developmental process critical for structural support and the establishment of a dynamic reservoir for calcium and phosphorus. Changes in livestock breeding over the past 100 years have resulted in earlier bone development and increased physical size of cattle. Advanced skeletal maturity is now commonly observed at harvest, with heifers displaying more mature bone than is expected at 30 months of age (MOA). We surmise that selection for growth traits and earlier reproductive maturity resulted in co-selection for accelerated skeletal ossification. This study examines the relationship of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 793 beef heifers under 30 MOA with USDA-graded skeletal maturity phenotypes (A-, B-, C- skeletal maturity). Further, the estrogen content of FDA-ap

SUBMITTER: Shira KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10454746 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature