Genetic parameters and genetic correlations among triacylglycerol and phospholipid fractions in Angus cattle

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for intramuscular fatty acids from triacylglycerol (TAG) and phospholipid (PL) fractions in beef LM tissue. Longissimus muscle samples were obtained from 1,833 Angus cattle to determine the intramuscular fatty acid composition for 31 lipids and lipid classes from TAG and PL fractions and were classified by structure into saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated (PUFA), omega-3 (n-3), and omega-6 (n-6) fatty acids. An atherogenic index (AI) was also determined as a measure of the unsaturated fatty acid to SFA ratio. Restricted maximum likelihood methods combined with pedigree data were used to estimate variance components with the WOMBAT software package. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.00 to 0.63 for the major classes of fatty acids. Heritability estimates differed between the TAG and PL fractions, with higher estimates for TAG up to 0.64 and lower estimates for PL that ranged from 0.00 to 0.14. Phenotypic and genetic correlations among individual fatty acids were determined for the TAG fraction as well as among carcass traits, including rib eye area, numerical marbling score, yield grade, ether fat, and Warner-Bratzler shear force value. Strong negative or positive genetic correlations were observed among individual fatty acids in the TAG fraction, which ranged from -0.99 to 0.97 ( < 0.05). Moderate correlations between carcass traits and fatty acids from the TAG fraction ranged from -0.43 to 0.32 ( < 0.05). These results indicate that fatty acids prominent in beef tissues show significant genetic variation as well as genetic relationships with carcass traits.