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Objective: This study aimed to assess the genetic parameters and accuracy of genomic predictions for twenty-four linear body conformation traits and overall conformation scores in Korean Holstein dairy cows., Methods: A dataset of 2,206 Korean Holsteins was collected, and genotyping was performed using the Illumina Bovine 50K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip. The traits investigated included body traits (stature, height at front end, chest width, body depth, angularity, body condition score, and locomotion), rump traits (rump angle, rump width, and loin strength), feet and leg traits (rear leg set, rear leg rear view, foot angle, heel depth, and bone quality), udder traits (udder depth, udder texture, udder support, fore udder attachment, front teat placement, front teat length, rear udder height, rear udder width, and rear teat placement), and overall conformation score. Accuracy of genomic predictions was assessed using the single-trait animal model genomic best linear unbiased prediction method implemented in the ASReml-SA v4.2 software., Results: Heritability estimates ranged from 0.10 to 0.50 for body traits, 0.21 to 0.35 for rump traits, 0.13 to 0.29 for feet and leg traits, and 0.05 to 0.46 for udder traits. Rump traits exhibited the highest average heritability (0.29), while feet and leg traits had the lowest estimates (0.21). Accuracy of genomic predictions varied among the twenty-four linear body conformation traits, ranging from 0.26 to 0.49. The heritability and prediction accuracy of genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) for the overall conformation score were 0.45 and 0.46, respectively. The GEBVs for body conformation traits in Korean Holstein cows had low accuracy, falling below the 50% threshold., Conclusion: The limited response to selection for body conformation traits in Korean Holsteins may be attributed to both the low heritability of these traits and the lower accuracy estimates for GEBVs. Further research is needed to enhance the accuracy of GEBVs and improve the selection response for these traits.

Objective: Conservation and genetic improvement of cattle breeds require information about genetic diversity and population structure of the cattle. In this study, we investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of the three cattle breeds in the Korean peninsula., Methods: Jeju Black, Hanwoo, Holstein cattle in Korea, together with six foreign breeds were examined. Genetic diversity within the cattle breeds was analyzed with minor allele frequency (MAF), observed and expected heterozygosity (HO and HE), inbreeding coefficient (FIS) and past effective population size. Molecular variance and population structure between the nine breeds were analyzed using a model-based clustering method. Genetic distances between breeds were evaluated with Nei's genetic distance and Weir and Cockerham's FST., Results: Our results revealed that Jeju Black cattle had lowest level of heterozygosity (HE = 0.21) among the studied taurine breeds, and an average MAF of 0.16. The level of inbreeding was -0.076 for Jeju Black, while -0.018 to -0.118 for the other breeds. Principle component analysis and neighbor-joining tree showed a clear separation of Jeju Black cattle from other local (Hanwoo and Japanese cattle) and taurine/indicine cattle breeds in evolutionary process, and a distinct pattern of admixture of Jeju Black cattle having no clustering with other studied populations. The FST value between Jeju Black cattle and Hanwoo was 0.106, which was lowest across the pair of breeds ranging from 0.161 to 0.274, indicating some degree of genetic closeness of Jeju Black cattle with Hanwoo. The past effective population size of Jeju Black cattle was very small, i.e. 38 in 13 generation ago, whereas 209 for Hanwoo., Conclusion: This study indicates genetic uniqueness of Jeju Black cattle. However, a small effective population size of Jeju Black cattle indicates the requirement for an implementation of a sustainable breeding policy to increase the population for genetic improvement and future conservation.

Objective: Milk fatty acid (FA) is a main nutritional component that markedly effects human health. Intentional modification of the FA profile has the potential to improve milk quality. This study aimed at the factors affecting elevated FA levels and the estimation of the genetic parameters for milk FAs in the Korean Holstein population., Methods: Total 885,249 repeated test-day milk records including, milk yield, saturated fatty acids (SFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), total unsaturated fatty acids (TUFA), fat and protein percentages were analyzed using CombiFoss FT+ system (Foss Analytical A/S, Denmark). Genetic parameters were estimated by the restricted maximum likelihood procedure based on the repeatability model using the Wombat program., Results: The FA profile varies along with the lactation and the energy balance (EB). With the negative EB in early lactation, mobilization of body fat reserves elevates the desirable FA levels. As a result of that, milk quality is increased by means of nutritionally and usability aspects during the early lactation. Moreover, heritability estimates for SFA, MUFA, PUFA, TUFA were 0.33, 0.42, 0.37, 0.41 respectively. According to the parity wise heritability analysis, first parity cows had relatively lower heritability for SFAs (0.19) than later parities (0.28)., Conclusion: Genetic parameters indicated that FAs were under stronger genetic control. Therefore, we suggest implementing animal breeding programs towards improving the milk FA profile.

Objective: This study was conducted to determine early hereditary endowment to establish a short-term feeding program., Methods: Hanwoo steers (n = 140) were equally distributed into four groups (35/group) based on genetic meat yield index (MYI) viz. the greatest, great, low, and the lowest at Jukam Hanwoo farm, Goheung. All animals were fed in group pens (5 animals/pen) with similar feed depending on the growth stage. Rice straw was provided ad libitum, whereas concentrate was fed at 5.71 kg during the growing period (6 to 13 mo) and 9.4 kg during the fattening period (13 to 28 mo). Body weight (BW) was measured at two-month intervals, whereas carcass weight was determined at slaughtering at about 31 months of age. The Affymetrix Bovine Axiom Array 640K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip was used to determine the meat quantity-related gene in the blood., Results: After 6 months, the highest (p<0.05) BW was observed in the greatest MYI group (190.77 kg) and the lowest (p<0.05) in the lowest MYI group (173.51 kg). The great MYI group also showed significantly (p<0.05) higher BW than the lowest MYI group. After 16 and 24 months, the greatest MYI group had the highest BW gain (p<0.05) and were therefore slaughtered the earliest. Carcass weight was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the greatest and the great MYI groups followed by the low and the lowest MYI groups. Back-fat thickness in the greatest MYI group was highly correlated to carcass weight and marbling score. The SNP array analysis identified the carcass-weight related gene BTB-01280026 with an additive effect. The steers with the allele increasing carcass weight had heavier slaughter weight of about 12 kg., Conclusion: Genetic MYI is a potential tool for calf selection, which will reduce the slaughter age while simultaneously increasing carcass weight, back-fat thickness, and marbling score.

Objective: This study was conducted to test the efficiency of genomic selection for milk production traits in a Korean Holstein cattle population., Methods: A total of 506,481 milk production records from 293,855 animals (2,090 heads with single nucleotide polymorphism information) were used to estimate breeding value by single step best linear unbiased prediction., Results: The heritability estimates for milk, fat, and protein yields in the first parity were 0.28, 0.26, and 0.23, respectively. As the parity increased, the heritability decreased for all milk production traits. The estimated generation intervals of sire for the production of bulls (LSB) and that for the production of cows (LSC) were 7.9 and 8.1 years, respectively, and the estimated generation intervals of dams for the production of bulls (LDB) and cows (LDC) were 4.9 and 4.2 years, respectively. In the overall data set, the reliability of genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) increased by 9% on average over that of estimated breeding value (EBV), and increased by 7% in cows with test records, about 4% in bulls with progeny records, and 13% in heifers without test records. The difference in the reliability between GEBV and EBV was especially significant for the data from young bulls, i.e. 17% on average for milk (39% vs 22%), fat (39% vs 22%), and protein (37% vs 22%) yields, respectively. When selected for the milk yield using GEBV, the genetic gain increased about 7.1% over the gain with the EBV in the cows with test records, and by 2.9% in bulls with progeny records, while the genetic gain increased by about 24.2% in heifers without test records and by 35% in young bulls without progeny records., Conclusion: More genetic gains can be expected through the use of GEBV than EBV, and genomic selection was more effective in the selection of young bulls and heifers without test records.

Objective: A genome-based best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) method was applied to evaluate accuracies of genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) of carcass and reproductive traits in Berkshire, Duroc and Yorkshire populations in Korean swine breeding farms., Methods: The data comprised a total of 1,870, 696, and 1,723 genotyped pigs belonging to Berkshire, Duroc and Yorkshire breeds, respectively. Reference populations for carcass traits consisted of 888 Berkshire, 466 Duroc, and 1,208 Yorkshire pigs, and those for reproductive traits comprised 210, 154, and 890 dams for the respective breeds. The carcass traits analyzed were backfat thickness (BFT) and carcass weight (CWT), and the reproductive traits were total number born (TNB) and number born alive (NBA). For each trait, GEBV accuracies were evaluated with a GEBV BLUP model and realized GEBVs., Results: The accuracies under the GBLUP model for BFT and CWT ranged from 0.33-0.72 and 0.33-0.63, respectively. For NBA and TNB, the model accuracies ranged 0.32 to 0.54 and 0.39 to 0.56, respectively. The realized accuracy estimates for BFT and CWT ranged 0.30 to 0.46 and 0.09 to 0.27, respectively, and 0.50 to 0.70 and 0.70 to 0.87 for NBA and TNB, respectively. For the carcass traits, the GEBV accuracies under the GBLUP model were higher than the realized GEBV accuracies across the breed populations, while for reproductive traits the realized accuracies were higher than the model based GEBV accuracies., Conclusion: The genomic prediction accuracy increased with reference population size and heritability of the trait. The GEBV accuracies were also influenced by GEBV estimation method, such that careful selection of animals based on the estimated GEBVs is needed. GEBV accuracy will increase with a larger sized reference population, which would be more beneficial for traits with low heritability such as reproductive traits.

Objective: This study was conducted to analyze the effects of stocking density on growth and carcass quality, and behavior of Hanwoo cattle to conform with global trends, targeting animal welfare production through the practice of environmentally friendly condition., Methods: Thirty six steers were randomly assigned to three treatment groups (C: 5 heads, T1: 4 heads, T2: 3 heads) and reared in separate pens with a constant stocking density of 50 m2 (C: 10 m2/head, T1: 12.5 m2/head, T2: 16.67 m2/head) per group from 12 to 30 month of age. Growth performance, behavior and carcass quality traits of each steer were recorded and compared between the treatment groups., Results: In general, the average daily gain during the fattening period was lower in group T2 than in T1 and the control groups. However, carcass weight and dressing percentage was lower in the control group than in T1 or T2 groups (p<0.05). Also, marbling score at 30 months of age was the lowest in the control group (p<0.05), while the three heads group (T2) had the greatest longissimus muscle area and marbling score (p<0.05). The behavior of walking time was the greatest in T2 group, while self-grooming and fighting occurred with the most frequency in the control group (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Our results show that the steers in more spacious stocking density had better carcass quality and wellbeing related behaviors, indicating that a lower density has a positive effect on raising management and carcass quality. Thus it is a need to install appropriate pens fitted to welfare-oriented management practices from growing to fattening period in Hanwoo cattle.

Objective: Intramuscular fat is one of the meat quality traits that is considered in the selection strategies for Hanwoo (Korean cattle). Different methods are used to estimate the breeding value of selection candidates. In the present work we focused on accuracy of different genotype relationship matrices as described by forni and pedigree based relationship matrix., Methods: The data set included a total of 778 animals that were genotyped for BovineSNP50 BeadChip. Among these 778 animals, 72 animals were sires for 706 reference animals and were used as a validation dataset. Single trait animal model (best linear unbiased prediction and genomic best linear unbiased prediction) was used to estimate the breeding values from genomic and pedigree information., Results: The diagonal elements for the pedigree based coefficients were slightly higher for the genomic relationship matrices (GRM) based coefficients while off diagonal elements were considerably low for GRM based coefficients. The accuracy of breeding value for the pedigree based relationship matrix (A) was 13% while for GRM (GOF, G05, and Yang) it was 0.37, 0.45, and 0.38, respectively., Conclusion: Accuracy of GRM was 1.5 times higher than A in this study. Therefore, genomic information will be more beneficial than pedigree information in the Hanwoo breeding program.

Objective: A whole genome association study was conducted to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with additive and dominant effects for growth and carcass traits in Korean native cattle, Hanwoo., Methods: The data set comprised 61 sires and their 486 Hanwoo steers that were born between spring of 2005 and fall of 2007. The steers were genotyped with the 35,968 SNPs that were embedded in the Illumina bovine SNP 50K beadchip and six growth and carcass quality traits were measured for the steers. A series of lack-of-fit tests between the models was applied to classify gene expression pattern as additive or dominant., Results: A total of 18 (0), 15 (3), 12 (8), 15 (18), 11 (7), and 21 (1) SNPs were detected at the 5% chromosome (genome) - wise level for weaning weight (WWT), yearling weight (YWT), carcass weight (CWT), backfat thickness (BFT), longissimus dorsi muscle area (LMA) and marbling score, respectively. Among the significant 129 SNPs, 56 SNPs had additive effects, 20 SNPs dominance effects, and 53 SNPs both additive and dominance effects, suggesting that dominance inheritance mode be considered in genetic improvement for growth and carcass quality in Hanwoo. The significant SNPs were located at 33 quantitative trait locus (QTL) regions on 18 Bos Taurus chromosomes (i.e. BTA 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 26, 28, and 29) were detected. There is strong evidence that BTA14 is the key chromosome affecting CWT. Also, BTA20 is the key chromosome for almost all traits measured (WWT, YWT, LMA)., Conclusion: The application of various additive and dominance SNP models enabled better characterization of SNP inheritance mode for growth and carcass quality traits in Hanwoo, and many of the detected SNPs or QTL had dominance effects, suggesting that dominance be considered for the whole-genome SNPs data and implementation of successive molecular breeding schemes in Hanwoo.

Four carcass traits, namely carcass weight (CW), eye muscle area (EMA), back fat thickness (BF), and marbling score (MS), are the main price decision parameters used for purchasing Hanwoo beef. The development of DNA markers for these carcass traits for use in a beef management system could result in substantial profit for beef producers in Korea. The objective of this study was to validate the association of highly significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in a previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) with the four carcass traits in a commercial Hanwoo population. We genotyped 83 SNPs distributed across all 29 autosomes in 867 steers from a Korean Hanwoo feedlot. Six SNPs, namely ARS-BFGL-NGS-22774 (Chr4, Pos:4889229), ARS-BFGL-NGS-100046 (Chr6, Pos:61917424), ARS-BFGL-NGS-39006 (Chr27, Pos:38059196), ARS-BFGL-NGS-18790 (Chr10, Pos:26489109), ARS-BFGL-NGS-43879 (Chr9, Pos:39964297), and BTB-00775794 (Chr20, Pos:20476265), were found to be associated with CW, EMA, BF, and MS. The ARS-BFGL-NGS-22774, BTB-00775794, and ARS-BFGL-NGS-39006 markers accounted for 1.80%, 1.72%, and 1.35% (p<0.01), respectively, of the phenotypic variance in the commercial Hanwoo population. Many genes located in close proximity to the significant SNPs identified in this study were previously reported to have roles in carcass traits. The results of this study could be useful for marker-assisted selection programs.

Hanwoo, a Korean native cattle (Bos taurus coreana), has great economic value due to high meat quality. Also, the breed has genetic variations that are associated with production traits such as health, disease resistance, reproduction, growth as well as carcass quality. In this study, next generation sequencing technologies and the availability of an appropriate reference genome were applied to discover a large amount of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ten Hanwoo bulls. Analysis of whole-genome resequencing generated a total of 26.5 Gb data, of which 594,716,859 and 592,990,750 reads covered 98.73% and 93.79% of the bovine reference genomes of UMD 3.1 and Btau 4.6.1, respectively. In total, 2,473,884 and 2,402,997 putative SNPs were discovered, of which 1,095,922 (44.3%) and 982,674 (40.9%) novel SNPs were discovered against UMD3.1 and Btau 4.6.1, respectively. Among the SNPs, the 46,301 (UMD 3.1) and 28,613 SNPs (Btau 4.6.1) that were identified as Hanwoo-specific SNPs were included in the functional genes that may be involved in the mechanisms of milk production, tenderness, juiciness, marbling of Hanwoo beef and yellow hair. Most of the Hanwoo-specific SNPs were identified in the promoter region, suggesting that the SNPs influence differential expression of the regulated genes relative to the relevant traits. In particular, the non-synonymous (ns) SNPs found in CORIN, which is a negative regulator of Agouti, might be a causal variant to determine yellow hair of Hanwoo. Our results will provide abundant genetic sources of variation to characterize Hanwoo genetics and for subsequent breeding.

Meat and carcass quality attributes are of crucial importance influencing consumer preference and profitability in the pork industry. A set of 400 Berkshire pigs were collected from Dasan breeding farm, Namwon, Chonbuk province, Korea that were born between 2012 and 2013. To perform genome wide association studies (GWAS), eleven meat and carcass quality traits were considered, including carcass weight, backfat thickness, pH value after 24 hours (pH24), Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage lightness in meat color (CIE L), redness in meat color (CIE a), yellowness in meat color (CIE b), filtering, drip loss, heat loss, shear force and marbling score. All of the 400 animals were genotyped with the Porcine 62K SNP BeadChips (Illumina Inc., USA). A SAS general linear model procedure (SAS version 9.2) was used to pre-adjust the animal phenotypes before GWAS with sire and sex effects as fixed effects and slaughter age as a covariate. After fitting the fixed and covariate factors in the model, the residuals of the phenotype regressed on additive effects of each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) under a linear regression model (PLINK version 1.07). The significant SNPs after permutation testing at a chromosome-wise level were subjected to stepwise regression analysis to determine the best set of SNP markers. A total of 55 significant (p<0.05) SNPs or quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected on various chromosomes. The QTLs explained from 5.06% to 8.28% of the total phenotypic variation of the traits. Some QTLs with pleiotropic effect were also identified. A pair of significant QTL for pH24 was also found to affect both CIE L and drip loss percentage. The significant QTL after characterization of the functional candidate genes on the QTL or around the QTL region may be effectively and efficiently used in marker assisted selection to achieve enhanced genetic improvement of the trait considered.

The efficiency of genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) depends on power of detection for quantitative trait loci (QTL) and precision for QTL mapping. In this study, three different strategies for GWAS were applied to detect QTL for carcass quality traits in the Korean cattle, Hanwoo; a linkage disequilibrium single locus regression method (LDRM), a combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium analysis (LDLA) and a BayesCπ approach. The phenotypes of 486 steers were collected for weaning weight (WWT), yearling weight (YWT), carcass weight (CWT), backfat thickness (BFT), longissimus dorsi muscle area, and marbling score (Marb). Also the genotype data for the steers and their sires were scored with the Illumina bovine 50K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips. For the two former GWAS methods, threshold values were set at false discovery rate <0.01 on a chromosome-wide level, while a cut-off threshold value was set in the latter model, such that the top five windows, each of which comprised 10 adjacent SNPs, were chosen with significant variation for the phenotype. Four major additive QTL from these three methods had high concordance found in 64.1 to 64.9Mb for Bos taurus autosome (BTA) 7 for WWT, 24.3 to 25.4Mb for BTA14 for CWT, 0.5 to 1.5Mb for BTA6 for BFT and 26.3 to 33.4Mb for BTA29 for BFT. Several candidate genes (i.e. glutamate receptor, ionotropic, ampa 1 [GRIA1], family with sequence similarity 110, member B [FAM110B], and thymocyte selection-associated high mobility group box [TOX]) may be identified close to these QTL. Our result suggests that the use of different linkage disequilibrium mapping approaches can provide more reliable chromosome regions to further pinpoint DNA makers or causative genes in these regions.

The objectives of this study were to investigate color patterns of shell and mantle edge pigmentation of a Pacific oyster, C. gigas, and to estimate variance components of the two colors. A sample of 240 F0 oysters was collected from six aquaculture farms in Tongyeong, Korea to measure shell color and mantle edge pigmentation. Among the F0s, male and female individuals with black (white) shell and black (white) mantle edge were selected and mated to generate three F1 full-sib black (white) cross families (N = 265). Two and four F2 cross families (N = 286) were also produced from black and white F1 selected individuals, respectively. Variance component estimates due to residuals and families within color were obtained using SAS PROC VARCOMP procedures to estimate heritability of shell and mantle edge pigmentation. In the F0 generation, about 29% (11%) had black (white) color for both shell and mantle edge. However, in the F1 and F2 black (white) cross families, 75% (67%) and 100% (100%) of oysters had black (white) shell colors, and 59% (23%) and 79% (55%) had black (white) mantle edge, respectively. Spearman correlation coefficients between shell and mantle edge color were 0.25, 0.74, and 0.92 in F0, F1, and F2 generations, respectively, indicating that, with generations of selection process, an individual with black (white) shell color is more likely to have black (white) mantle edge pigmentation. This suggests that shell color could be a good indicator trait for mantle edge pigmentation if selection of both the colors is implemented for a couple of generations. Estimates of heritability were 0.41 and 0.77 for shell color and 0.27 and 0.08 for mantle edge pigmentation in the F1 and F2 generations, respectively, indicating that, in general, significant proportions of phenotypic variations for the shell and mantle edge colors are explained by genetic variations between individuals. These results suggest that the two color traits are inheritable and correlated, enabling effective selection on shell and mantle edge color.

A least squares regression interval mapping model was derived to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) with a unique mode of genomic imprinting, polar overdominance (POD), under a breed cross design model in outbred mammals. Tests to differentiate POD QTL from Mendelian, paternal or maternal expression QTL were also developed. To evaluate the power of the POD models and to determine the ability to differentiate POD from non-POD QTL, phenotypic data, marker data and a biallelic QTL were simulated on 512 F2 offspring. When tests for Mendelian versus parent-of-origin expression were performed, most POD QTL were classified as partially imprinted QTL. The application of the series of POD tests showed that more than 90% and 80% of medium and small POD QTL were declared as POD type. However, when breed-origin alleles were segregating in the grand parental breeds, the proportion of declared POD QTL decreased, which was more pronounced in a mating design with a small number of parents (F0 and F1). Non-POD QTL, i.e. with Mendelian or parent-of-origin expression (complete imprinting) inheritance, were well classified (>90%) as non-POD QTL, except for QTL with small effects and paternal or maternal expression in the design with a small number of parents, for which spurious POD QTL were declared.

The purpose of this study was to find any association of the bovine growth hormone (bGH) gene with growth and carcass quality traits in Korean native cattle, Hanwoo. Genomic DNA was extracted from 21 Hanwoo individuals, and the 47 to 2,528 bp region of the bGH 2,856 bp (GenBank accession number M57764) including the promoter and the five exons was sequenced. A total of ten bGH SNPs were confirmed, including four (253 C>T, 303 C>T, 502 C>T, and 559 G>A) in the promoter, one (679 C>T) in exon 1, one (1,692 T>C) in intron 3, and four (2141 C>G, 2258 C>T, 2277 C>T, and 2291 A>C) in exon 5. The ten bGH SNPs were genotyped for a sample of 242 Hanwoo steers and association tests were performed to find any significant SNP that was correlated with growth and carcass quality. Of the SNPs, the 303 C>T SNP in the promoter region was significantly associated with 6-month-old weight, the 559 G>A SNP with longissimus dorsi muscle area, the 2141 C>G SNP in exon 5 with daily weight gain, and the 2258 C>T SNP with daily weight gain and carcass weight (p<0.05). The significant SNPs need to be verified in other Hanwoo populations before considering implementation of marker-assisted selection for genetic improvement of growth and carcass quality in Hanwoo.

The triploid Pacific oyster, which is produced by mating tetraploid and diploid oysters, is favored by the aquaculture industry because of its better flavor and firmer texture, particularly during the summer. However, tetraploid oyster production is not feasible in all oysters; the development of tetraploid oysters is ongoing in some oyster species. Thus, a method for ploidy verification is necessary for this endeavor, in addition to ploidy verification in aquaculture farms and in the natural environment. In this study, a method for ploidy verification of triploid and diploid oysters was developed using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels containing primers for molecular microsatellite markers. Two microsatellite multiplex PCR panels consisting of three markers each were developed using previously developed microsatellite markers that were optimized for performance. Both panels were able to verify the ploidy levels of 30 triploid oysters with 100% accuracy, illustrating the utility of microsatellite markers as a tool for verifying the ploidy of individual oysters.

The purpose of this study was to investigate interaction effects of genes using a Harvester method. A sample of Korean cattle, Hanwoo (n = 476) was chosen from the National Livestock Research Institute of Korea that were sired by 50 Korean proven bulls. The steers were born between the spring of 1998 and the autumn of 2002 and reared under a progeny-testing program at the Daekwanryeong and Namwon branches of NLRI. The steers were slaughtered at approximately 24 months of age and carcass quality traits were measured. A SNP Harvester method was applied with a support vector machine (SVM) to detect significant SNPs in the CCDC158 gene and interaction effects between the SNPs that were associated with average daily gains, cold carcass weight, longissimus dorsi muscle area, and marbling scores. The statistical significance of the major SNP combinations was evaluated with x (2)-statistics. The genotype combinations of three SNPs, g.34425+102 A>T(AA), g.4102636T>G(GT), and g.11614+19G>T(GG) had a greater effect than the rest of SNP combinations, e.g. 0.82 vs. 0.75 kg, 343 vs. 314 kg, 80.4 vs 74.7 cm(2), and 7.35 vs. 5.01, for the four respective traits (p<0.001). Also, the estimates were greater compared with single SNPs analyzed (the greatest estimates were 0.76 kg, 320 kg, 75.5 cm(2), and 5.31, respectively). This result suggests that the SNP Harvester method is a good option when multiple SNPs and interaction effects are tested. The significant SNPs could be applied to improve meat quality of Hanwoo via marker-assisted selection.

The population sizes of three Korean indigenous cattle populations have been drastically reduced over the past decades. In this study, we examined the extent to which reduction in populations influenced genetic diversity, population structure and demographic history using complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences. The complete mtDNA control region was sequenced in 56 individuals from Korean Black (KB), Jeju Black (JEB) and Korean Brindle (BRI) cattle populations. We included 27 mtDNA sequences of Korean Brown (BRO) from the GenBank database. Haplotype diversity estimate for the total population was high (0.870) while nucleotide diversity was low (0.004). The KB showed considerably low nucleotide (π = 0.001) and haplotype (h = 0.368) diversities. Analysis of molecular variance revealed a low level of genetic differentiation but this was highly significant (p<0.001) among the cattle populations. Of the total genetic diversity, 7.6% was attributable to among cattle populations diversity and the rest (92.4%) to differences within populations. The mismatch distribution analysis and neutrality tests revealed that KB population was in genetic equilibrium or decline. Indeed, unless an appropriate breeding management practice is developed, inbreeding and genetic drift will further impoverish genetic diversity of these cattle populations. Rational breed development and conservation strategy is needed to safeguard these cattle population.

In the present study, we evaluated the informativeness of SNPs genotyped by the Illumina Bovine SNP50K assay in different cattle breeds. To investigate these on a genome-wide scale, we considered 52,678 SNPs spanning the whole autosomal and X chromosomes in cattle. Our study samples consists of six different cattle breeds. Across the breeds approximately 72 and 6% SNPs were found polymorphic and fixed or close to fix in all the breeds, respectively. The variations in the average minor allele frequency (MAF) were significantly different between the breeds studied. The level of average MAF observed in Hanwoo was significantly lower than the other breeds. Hanwoo breed also displayed the lowest number of polymorphic SNPs across all the chromosomes. More importantly, this study indicated that the Bovine SNP50K assay will have reduced power for genome-wide association studies in Hanwoo as compared to other cattle breeds. Overall, the Bovine SNP50K assay described in this study offer a useful genotyping platform for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in the cattle breeds. The assay data represent a vast and generally untapped resource to assist the investigation of the complex production traits and the development of marker-assisted selection programs.