gaurus":2q4z8guo said:
WalnutCrest":2q4z8guo said:
cow pollinater":2q4z8guo said:
Make the baldies first then switch to a limousin or high percentage limflex with two copies of the muscle gene.
Muscle gene? Do you mean the F94L myostatin mutation?
I was thinking that too, I didn't know Limousins had the double muscle gene..
There is no such thing as THE double muscle gene.
There are at least nine widely researched mutations in the myostatin area.
Some negatively affect calving ability as the mutations start to express themselves before birth. These types of mutations are referred to as being disruptive variants (because they can disrupt calving ease). There are at least six of these types. When people think about "double muscling" they often associate it with calving difficulties.
There are three variants that do not express until after the calf is born. There are at least three of these missence variants that do not affect calving ease. One of these three missence variants is the F94L variation. This variant is somewhat common in fullblood Limousin and Aubrac cattle.
Further, some variants in myostatin result in the same number of muscle fibers as a normal animal, just those fibers are much thicker (and therefore are tougher meat as the thicker muscle fibers are harder to cut) ... and ... there are others that result in more muscle fibers that are longer and thinner (and therefore result in more tender beef).
The variant common in Piedmontese cattle (C313Y) results in an expression that happens before birth (and therefore can negatively affect calving) but results in long thin muscle fibers (and therefore tender beef).
The F94L variant also results in long thin muscle fibers (similar to Piedmontese cattle), but doesn't affect calving ease the same way as it doesn't express until after birth.
There are other variants (including nt821 and Q204X among others) that show up in some breeds but not others. Let Google be your guide...