Genetic variation in the β, β‐carotene‐9′, 10′‐dioxygenase gene and association with fat colour in bovine adipose tissue and milk

β, β‐carotene‐9′, 10′‐dioxygenase (BCO2) plays a role in cleaving β‐carotene eccentrically, and may be involved in the control of adipose and milk colour in cattle. The bovine BCO2 gene was sequenced as a potential candidate gene for a beef fat colour QTL on chromosome (BTA) 15. A single nucleotide base change located in exon 3 causes the substitution of a stop codon (encoded by the A allele) for tryptophan⁸⁰ (encoded by the G allele) (c. 240G>A, p.Trp80stop, referred to herein as SNP W80X). Association analysis showed significant differences in subcutaneous fat colour and beta‐carotene concentration amongst cattle with different BCO2 genotypes. Animals with the BCO2 AA genotype had more yellow beef fat and a higher beta‐carotene concentration in adipose tissues than those with the GA or GG genotype. QTL mapping analysis with the BCO2 SNP W80X fitted as a fixed effect confirmed that this SNP is likely to represent the quantitative trait nucleotide (QTN) for the fat colour‐related traits on BTA 15. Moreover, animals with the AA genotype had yellower milk colour and a higher concentration of beta‐carotene in the milk.     

Consensus and comprehensive linkage maps of bovine chromosome 24

This study describes development of a consensus genetic linkage map of bovine chromosome 24 (BTA24). Eight participating laboratories contributed data for 58 unique markers including a total of 25 409 meioses. Eighteen markers, which were typed in more than one reference population, were used as potential anchors to generate a consensus framework map. The framework map contained 16 loci ordered with odds greater than 1000:1 and spanned 79.3 cM. Remaining markers were included in a comprehensive map relative to these anchors. The resulting BTA24 comprehensive map was 98.3 cM in length. Average marker intervals were 6.1 and 2.5 cM for framework and comprehensive maps, respectively. Marker order was generally consistent with previously reported BTA24 linkage maps. Only one discrepancy was found when comparing the comprehensive map with the published USDA-MARC linkage map. Integration of genetic information from different maps provides a high-resolution BTA24 linkage map.     

Intratrophic predation in simple predator-prey models

Intratrophic predation is a phenomenon not usually considered in mathematical models of biological populations, and yet it may occur in any model where many species are considered as a single model variable. This paper demonstrates how intratrophic predation can be rationally included in a general predator-prey model, and shows that the resulting model has some desirable and intuitively plausible features. A simple asymptotic method is developed in order to investigate how intratrophic predation can affect both the position and stability of the equilibria of a model. The methods can be applied to wide classes of population models, and the conclusions drawn are of practical importance.     

Adrenal Gland and Lung Lesions in Gulf of Mexico Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Found Dead following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

A northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) cetacean unusual mortality event (UME) involving primarily bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama began in February 2010 and continued into 2014. Overlapping in time and space with this UME was the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, which was proposed as a contributing cause of adrenal disease, lung disease, and poor health in live dolphins examined during 2011 in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. To assess potential contributing factors and causes of deaths for stranded UME dolphins from June 2010 through December 2012, lung and adrenal gland tissues were histologically evaluated from 46 fresh dead non-perinatal carcasses that stranded in Louisiana (including 22 from Barataria Bay), Mississippi, and Alabama. UME dolphins were tested for evidence of biotoxicosis, morbillivirus infection, and brucellosis. Results were compared to up to 106 fresh dead stranded dolphins from outside the UME area or prior to the DWH spill. UME dolphins were more likely to have primary bacterial pneumonia (22% compared to 2% in non-UME dolphins, P = .003) and thin adrenal cortices (33% compared to 7% in non-UME dolphins, P = .003). In 70% of UME dolphins with primary bacterial pneumonia, the condition either caused or contributed significantly to death. Brucellosis and morbillivirus infections were detected in 7% and 11% of UME dolphins, respectively, and biotoxin levels were low or below the detection limit, indicating that these were not primary causes of the current UME. The rare, life-threatening, and chronic adrenal gland and lung diseases identified in stranded UME dolphins are consistent with exposure to petroleum compounds as seen in other mammals. Exposure of dolphins to elevated petroleum compounds present in coastal GoM waters during and after the DWH oil spill is proposed as a cause of adrenal and lung disease and as a contributor to increased dolphin deaths.     

Quantitative trait loci for organ weights and adipose fat composition in Jersey and Limousin back‐cross cattle finished on pasture or feedlot

A QTL study of live animal and carcass traits in beef cattle was carried out in New Zealand and Australia. Back‐cross calves (385 heifers and 398 steers) were generated, with Jersey and Limousin backgrounds. This paper reports on weights of eight organs (heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, spleen, gastro‐intestinal tract, fat, and rumen contents) and 12 fat composition traits (fatty acid (FA) percentages, saturated and monounsaturated FA subtotals, and fat melting point). The New Zealand cattle were reared and finished on pasture, whilst Australian cattle were reared on grass and finished on grain for at least 180 days. For organ weights and fat composition traits, 10 and 12 significant QTL locations (P < 0.05), respectively, were detected on a genome‐wide basis, in combined‐sire or within‐sire analyses. Seven QTL significant for organ weights were found at the proximal end of chromosome 2. This chromosome carries a variant myostatin allele (F94L), segregating from the Limousin ancestry, and this is a positional candidate for the QTL. Ten significant QTL for fat composition were found on chromosomes 19 and 26. Fatty acid synthase and stearoyl‐CoA desaturase (SCD1), respectively, are positional candidate genes for these QTL. Two FA QTL found to be common to sire groups in both populations were for percentages of C14:0 and C14:1 (relative to all FAs) on chromosome 26, near the SCD1 candidate gene.     

Stochastic von Bertalanffy models, with applications to fish recruitment

We consider three individual-based models describing growth in stochastic environments. Stochastic differential equations (SDEs) with identical von Bertalanffy deterministic parts are formulated, with a stochastic term which decreases, remains constant, or increases with organism size, respectively. Probability density functions for hitting times are evaluated in the context of fish growth and mortality. Solving the hitting time problem analytically or numerically shows that stochasticity can have a large positive impact on fish recruitment probability. It is also demonstrated that the observed mean growth rate of surviving individuals always exceeds the mean population growth rate, which itself exceeds the growth rate of the equivalent deterministic model. The consequences of these results in more general biological situations are discussed.     

Genotypic effects of calpain 1 and calpastatin on the tenderness of cooked M. longissimus dorsi steaks from Jersey x Limousin, Angus and Hereford-cross cattle

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the calpain 1 (CAPN1) and calpastatin (CAST) genes were studied to determine their effects on meat tenderness in Bos taurus cattle. Strip loins (M. longissimus dorsi) were removed from cattle in four resource populations after slaughter (n = 1042), aged under controlled conditions until fixed times after rigor mortis, cooked and measured using a tenderometer. Animals were genotyped for the CAPN1 SNP c.947C>G (p.Ala316Gly; AF252504) and for the CAST SNP c.2959A>G (AF159246). Frequencies of CAPN1 C alleles ranged from 23% to 68%, and CAST A alleles from 84% to 99.5%. From all data combined, the CAPN1 CC genotype (compared with the GG genotype) was associated with a 20.1 +/- 1.7% reduced average shear force at intermediate stages of ageing (P < 0.001) and with a 9.5 +/- 1.3% reduction near ultimate tenderness (P < 0.001). The heterozygote was intermediate. For CAST, corresponding values for AA compared with AG genotypes were reductions of 8.6 +/- 2.0% and 5.1 +/- 1.6% respectively (both P < 0.001), but there were too few GG genotypes for comparison. There were small interactions between the CAPN1 and CAST genotypes. For the CAPN1 and CAST genotypes combined, the maximal genotype effect in average shear force was 25.7 +/- 5.5% (P < 0.001) at intermediate stages and 15.2 +/- 4.8% near ultimate tenderness (P < 0.01).     

Joint modeling of additive and non-additive genetic line effects in single field trials

A statistical approach is presented for selection of best performing lines for commercial release and best parents for future breeding programs from standard agronomic trials. The method involves the partitioning of the genetic effect of a line into additive and non-additive effects using pedigree based inter-line relationships, in a similar manner to that used in animal breeding. A difference is the ability to estimate non-additive effects. Line performance can be assessed by an overall genetic line effect with greater accuracy than when ignoring pedigree information and the additive effects are predicted breeding values. A generalized definition of heritability is developed to account for the complex models presented.     

Major effect of retinal short-chain dehydrogenase reductase (RDHE2) on bovine fat colour

Beef with yellow fat is considered undesirable by consumers in most European and Asian markets. β-Carotene is the major carotenoid deposited in the adipose tissue and milk fat of cattle (Bos taurus), which can result in the yellowness. The effects of retinal short-chain dehydrogenase reductase (RDHE2) and β, β-carotene 9',10-dioxygenase (BCO2) were considered jointly as major candidate genes for causing the yellow fat colour, based on their genomic locations in the fat colour quantitative trait loci (QTL) and their roles in the metabolism of β-carotene. In a secondary pathway, BCO2 cleaves β-carotene into retinoic acid, the most potent form of vitamin A. RDHE2 converts trans-retinol to trans-retinal, a less active form of vitamin A. We evaluated the effects of two amino acid variants of the RDHE2 gene (V6A and V33A) along with a mutation in the BCO2 gene that results in a stop codon (W80X) in seven cattle populations. The RDHE2 V6A genotype affected several fat colour traits but the size of the effect varied in the populations studied. The genotype effect of the RDHE2 V33A variant was observed only in New Zealand samples of unknown breed. In general, the individual effects of RDHE2 V6A and V33A SNPs genotypes were greater in the random New Zealand samples than in samples from pedigreed Jersey-Limousin backcross progeny, accounting for 8-17 % of the variance in one population. Epistasis between the BCO2 W80X and RDHE2 variants was observed, and in some populations this explained more of the variation than the effects of the individual RDHE2 variants.