Tenderness Gene??

[NonTypicalCPA]

I had a potential heifer buyer at my place the other day and he was talking about testing being done to identify cattle that had genes that produced more tender beef. Any truth to this, recently? The only articles I could find on testing was many years ago and there were no results as of the article date.

 

[Lucky_P]

Some of the gene markers associated with tenderness have been identified.
First-generation that I'm aware of was the GeneStar tests... A number of Angus, and a few Shorthorn sires had test results available - and I used them as selection criteria behind epds and pedigree... particularly using sires with as many of the (at that time, 6 - 3 pair) gene markers. Used several 5 & 6-star Angus sires, and several of the Shorthorn sires we used had 3 or 4 of the 6 markers.
The newer genomic tests do include tenderness as one of the traits that they supposedly measure/represent... I've not looked lately at the Angus sires, as we've switched back mainly to Simmental sires.
The Simmental 'Shear' epd is supposed to represent tenderness, based on Warner-Bratzler shear force... and, again, I consider it, if all other traits I'm looking for in a particular sire are present; the more negative the Shr epd, the more desirable.

Granted, to date, no one is paying me any extra for breeding in tenderness... but I'm still selecting for it when I can... at some point, it might be worth something... if nothing else, I'm hoping someone is having an enjoyable eating experience, if they're eating steaks from one of my calves.

 

[alpine740]

I've seen reference to this in Wagyu, more so than other breeds. Wagyu registration requires DNA verification; the tenderness score is an optional test (1-10, 10 being the most tender). Some debate exists regarding exactly how hereditary it is.