A genetic analysis of meat compositions in Japanese Black cattle: Genetic parameters and sex influence

Meat composition in beef is related to eating quality and food functionality. Genetic parameters for several meat compositions including free amino acid, peptide and sugar, however, remain poorly described. In this study, we estimated genetic parameters for 51 meat components, including free amino acids, peptides, sugars and fatty acid compositions, and two carcase traits in 1,354 heifers and 1,797 steers of Japanese Black cattle. Heritability estimates were generally equivalent to or moderately greater than those in previous studies of this breed. Genetic correlations between free amino acids, peptides and sugars and carcase traits were often negative, suggesting a trade-off between traits. Using two-trait animal models that treat records from the two sexes as different traits, we estimated sex-specific heritabilities and cross-sex genetic correlations which indicate the sex differences in genetic architecture. In these analyses, 12 traits showed significant heritability differences between sexes and cross-sex genetic correlations occasionally deviated from unity. These results could be used to inform future breeding schemes and investigations of the genetic architecture of meat compositions in beef.