Estimation of Genetic Parameters and Correlation between Yearling Ultrasound Measurements and Carcass Traits in Hanwoo Cattle

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 1425
• Main Authors: Naserkheil, Masoumeh, Lee, Deuk-Hwan, Kong, Hong-Sik, Seong, Jiyeon, Mehrban, Hossein
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 16-05-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Animal models; Animals; Beef cattle; Breeding; carcass traits; Carcasses; Cattle; Cattle industry; Estimates; Evaluation; genetic correlation; Hanwoo cattle; Heritability; Meat quality; Muscles; Parameter estimation; Physical growth; Software; Thickness; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasound
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani11051425

Genetic parameters have a significant role in designing a breeding program and are required to evaluate economically important traits. The objective of this study was to estimate heritability and genetic correlation between yearling ultrasound measurements, such as backfat thickness (UBFT), eye muscle area (UEMA), intramuscular fat content (UIMF), and carcass traits, such as backfat thickness (BFT), carcass weight (CW), eye muscle area (EMA), marbling score (MS) at approximately 24 months of age, as well as yearling weight (YW) in Hanwoo bulls (15,796) and steers (5682). The (co) variance components were estimated using a multi-trait animal model. Moderate to high heritability estimates were obtained and were 0.42, 0.50, 0.56, and 0.59 for CW, EMA, BFT, and MS, respectively. Heritability estimates for yearling measurements of YW, UEMA, UBFT, and UIMF were 0.31, 0.32, 0.30, and 0.19, respectively. Favorable and strong genetic correlations were observed between UIMF and MS (0.78), UBFT and BFT (0.63), and UEMA and EMA (0.65). Moreover, the estimated genetic correlation between YW and CW was high (0.84) and relatively moderate between YW and EMA (0.43). These results suggest that genetic improvement can be achieved for carcass traits when using yearling ultrasound measurements as selection criteria in ongoing Hanwoo breeding programs.