Livestock Studies 2019, Vol 59, Num, 2     (Pages: 087-096)

The Use of Calpain and Calpastatin Gene Polymorphisms in the Improvement of Meat Texture in Cattle

Süleyman Kök 1 ,Sertaç Atalay 2 ,Güldan Vapur 3 ,M. İhsan Soysal 4

1 Trakya Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi, Genetik ve Biyomühendislik Bölümü, Edirne
2 Tekirdağ Namık Kemal Üniversitesi Merkez Labaratuvarı (NABİLTEM). Tekirdağ
3 Trakya Üniversitesi Fenbilimleri Enstitüsü, Biyoteknoloji ve Genetik Anabilim Dalı. Edirne
4 Namık Kemal Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi, Zootekni Bölümü. Tekirdağ
- In recent years, interest in the improvement of meat tenderness in line with consumer preferences has increased and studies have been conducted to improve this feature especially in beef cattle breeds. Actually three enzyme which are μ-calpain (CAPN1) and m-calpain (CAPN2) and calpastatin (CAST) as their inhibitor are responsible for the process of meat tenderization. Numerous studies have reported that, the calpain-calpastatin system is important for normal skeletal muscle development and that some SNPs in CAST and CAPN1 loci are associated with meat sensitivity. The important relationship also between CAST or CAPN1 gene polymorphism and Warner Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) of musculus longissimus dorsi (MLD) has been determined in most of the studies. In beef cattle, calpain (CAPN1 316, CAPN1 530, CAPN1 4751) and calpastatin (UoG-CAST, CAST-T1) gene and their variants in these genes are accepted as candidate genes for meat tenderness. These SNPs provide an important opportunity to determine beef quality characteristics at an early age. The genetic marker technology is thought to be a promising tool for the genetic development of livestock. Keywords : CAPN1, CAST, beef tenderness, polymorphism, cattle