The melanocortin receptor type 4 (MC4R) gene is expressed in the hypothalamus and regulates energy intake and body weight. Recently, it has been reported that obesity and energy balance in human were also regulated by the MC4R gene. Therefore the objective of this study was to identify the polymorphism on the MC4R gene SNP C1786T and its association with economic traits in Korean native cattle (brindle and black cattle) by PCR-RFLP. A total of 125 cattle from the two breeds were tested for economic traits (meat quality index, backfat, thickness, carcass weight, longissimus muscle area and marbling score) and data was analyzed using SAS program. In the results, C allele had highest frequency than G allele frequency in the both breeds and the gene was significantly associated with meat quantity index and backfat thickness in brindle cattle breed. However, in black cattle, the gene was significantly associated with longissimus muscle area (p<0.05). These results suggest that C1786T SNP of the MC4R gene may be useful as a genetic marker for economic traits in the brindle and black cattle.

Evolutionary processes such as recombination and natural selection usually develop over extended periods of time; however, they get accelerated in cases of hybridization. Interspecies hybrids exhibit novel genome which are exposed to natural selection, thus provides a key to unravel the ultimate causes of adaptation and speciation. On the other hand, with rapid upsurge in demand for stronger food security has been confronting us on daily basis. Lately, the scientists have started to gather are now attracted by specific extraordinary traits of different animals by way interspecies hybridization combining the superior genetic material from different animals. Besides, this technology could also explore new life saving vaccines and medicines and also would find beneficial in conserving wild heritage of endangered and critical species. Several researchers have also done commendable work on interspecies hybridization with some degree of success. Nevertheless, lots of obstacles and hurdles still pose for this phenomenal technology to reach to its final destination. This review will point out the hurdles on interspecies hybridization in reference to the natural mating and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

Preservation, distribution and share of regional genetic resources are one of the hot topics of international debates. Korean government under National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) supervision made a law that initiated national management system of livestock genetic resources in agriculture and fishery (July, 2012). NIAS preserve domestic livestock genetic sources of Chikso (Korean brindle cattle), Heugu (Korea black cattle), native pig and native chicken under the strategies of multiple place guardians to keep these minor animals from getting extinct through various reasons. A total of around 3,300 animals are under protection currently. Around 70,000 germ cells of Chikso, Heugu, native goat, etc, are stored by cryopreservation method. Moreover,around 30,000 samples of whole blood and DNA are stored in deep freezers. NIAS also constructed Animal Genetic Resource Information Management System (AGRIMS) and stored information including the phenotypes and genotypes of livestock genetic resources. We also have built companionships with nine provincial livestock institutes and two universities regarding rare livestock animal management since 2008. These companion organizations have around 16,000 animals of 11 breeds in their custody. Internationally, we keep on registering these breeds on FAO and Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS) database systems. Recently we updated registration of 24 breeds of six species such as Chikso, Chookjin Chamdon, Ginkkoridak, Jindo, etc.

The purpose of this study is to suggest developing plans for 6 beef brands in Kangwon-do. Data were collected by consumer survey on 12th August, 2010 at Daemyung Resort in Hongcheongun. A total of 658 questionnaires were distributed and collected. SAS 9.1 and Excel 2007 were used as statistical packages and ordered logit model was used as a model to analyze the data. From the results of the study the following improvement plans were suggested for the 6 beef brands in Kangwon-do. First, the 6 beef brand agents should use public relation to give information for consumers. Clean image of Kangewon-do and clear distribution process should be stressed for the public relation. Second, promotion is an important tool to discriminate the 6 beef brands with other beef brands. The discrimination by the 6 beef brands should be focused on taste of the 6 beef brands. Third, market segmentation strategies are needed. The market segmentation may be achieved by segmentation of sales places.

Osteoarthritis is one of the commonest causes associated with age-related damage of articular cartilage. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used in osteoarthritic patient. However, long term administration of these drugs results gastrointestinal disorders. Though, most studies have demonstrated in the past that bee venom has therapeutic effect on diseases related to inflammation and pains, but its anti-inflammatory properties have not been so far studied on inflamed chondrocytes (LPS induced) invitro. For the purpose, the study was carried out to determine the effect of bee venom on porcine articular chondrocyte cell using microarray. In this study, we found that 2,235 significantly associated gene (1,404 up-regulated genes and 831 down-regulated genes) that were expressed on inflamed and non inflamed chondrocytes during proliferation. Among the 1,404 up-regulated genes and 831 down-regulated genes, known genes were 372 and 237, respectively. On the other hand, bee venom significantly reduced expression of fetuin involved in acute inflammatory reaction. Our results suggest that this study could be useful database in gene expression profiling of chondrocyte cell treated with bee venom.

The purpose of this study was to investigate anti-oxidant effects of loach muscle-derived peptides in vitro and in vivo. Loach muscle peptides were prepared by 4 different methods: boiling (B), enzymatic hydrolysis (E), boiling and enzymatic hydrolysis (BE), alkaline and enzymatic hydrolysis (AE). Two different in vitro analyses, DPPH radical scavenging activity and xanthine-xanthine oxidase-induced superoxide radical scavenging activity, were performed. All the four preparations showed concentration-dependent DPPH radical scavenging activity. However, superoxide radical scavenging activity was found only with AE and E preparations. To evaluate in vivo effects, mice were fed with 10% AE-containing diets for 4 weeks before hepatotoxicity induction with CCl4. In serum glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) levels, total antioxidant levels, and relative hepatic weight ratio, no evidence for anti-oxidant effects was found with AE indicating the absence of anti-oxidant effect in the in vivo mouse experiment. It needs to be clarified why anti-oxidant activity of loach protein hydrolysates was not evident in vivo. Furthermore, these results suggest that in vivo evaluation is crucial in demonstrating anti-oxidant activities.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of age on the oxidative stability of Hanwoo (Korean cattle) cow beef. The samples of M. longissimus dorsi from 65 and 133 months-old-Hanwoo cows (4 and 3 heads, respectively) were stored at 4±0.2℃ for 9 days. The proximate composition, total myoglobin content, pH value, water-holding capacity and drip loss were not significantly affected by age. At day 9 of storage, the lipid oxidation (2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) was significantly (p<0.05) higher in beef from 133 months-old-cows than 65 months-old-cows. Lower (p<0.05) oxymyoglobin concentration and R630-R580 value and higher (p<0.05) metmyoglobin concentration were observed in beef from 133 months-old-cows at day 9 of storage than 65 months-old-cows. The CIE a*, b* and C* values were significantly (p<0.05) lowered in beef from 133 months-old-cows at day 9 of storage than 65 months-old-cows. It could be concluded that old age decreased the lipid oxidation stability and myoglobin oxidation stability in Hanwoo cow beef.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of parity on chemical composition and meat quality of Hanwoo cows (n=74, 2-15 years old). The beef loin and top round muscle samples were obtained and divided by 3 groups of parity numbers (G1, 0; G2, 1-3; G3, 4-9 times). Loin and top round from G1 had significantly higher intramuscular fat contents and lower protein contents than those from G3 (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in collagen contents among 3 parity groups (p>0.05). In meat color, G1 was higher in a* values for loin and higher in L* and a* values for top round muscle (p<0.05). The loin from G1 had significantly lower cooking loss (%) than G3, however, there was no significant difference in water holding capacity among 3 parity groups. For top round muscle, G3 had significantly higher Warner-Bratzler shear force values and lower water holding capacity values than G1 (p<0.05). In fatty acid composition, G1 had significantly higher C18:1n7 and C18:1n9 contents for loin, and it had significantly higher C16:1n7 and C18:1n7 contents for top round than those of the other groups (p<0.05). In free amino acid composition, alanine was highest and followed by glutamine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, proline, glycine, methionine. In conclusion, the parity conditions influenced on chemical composition and meat quality depending on different cut of Hanwoo cows, and the parity numbers were related with the age of cows.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary whole-crop barley silage on average daily feed intake, average daily weight gain, velvet antler yield and economic efficacy in sika deer during growth. A total of 24 sika deer (initially 56.3 kg BW) of 24 months age were allotted in arrangement in a completely randomized design. The three treatments were: T1(hay diet), T2(whole-crop barley silage), and T3(50% hay+50% whole-crop barley silage). Concentrate feed were 1.5% feeding of body weight with all groups. Average daily weight gain of T3 was higher than those of others for the entire experimental period. Average daily feed intake of sika deer in decreasing order was as follows; T1>T3>T2. The velvet antler yield was highest in T3 group (315±112 g) compared with T1 (276±59 g) and T2 (283±108 g). However, there was no significant difference in average daily feed intake, average daily weight gain, velvet antler yield(p>0.05). In economic efficacy, T3 was about 15-29% higher than that of T1 and T2. In conclusion, the mixed feeding of 50% hay and 50% whole-crop barley silage was more effective in average daily feed intake, average daily weight gain, velvet antler yield and economic efficacy in sika deer

This study was carried out to development paternal selection indices for improvement of meat production ability in Korean Native Pigs which were raised at the swine farm. Records on 1,053 Korean native pigs for average daily gain (ADG), age at 70 kg (D70 kg) and backfat thickness (BF) made between 2001 and 2010 in herds on National Institutes of Animal Science in Korea were used to estimate genetic parameters. The data was analyzed by the MTDF-REML (Derivative-Free Restricted Maximum Likelihood) program of Boldman using a multi-trait animal model. The results to estimatethe genetic parameters were as follows. Heritabilities were 0.26, 0.09, and 0.29 for ADG, D70 kg and BF, respectively. The phenotypic correlations of ADG with D70 kg and BF were -0.89 and 0.15. The phenotypic correlation of D70 kg with BF was -0.16. The genetic correlations of ADG with D70 kg and BF were -0.28, 0.93, respectively. The genetic correlation of D70 kg with BF was -0.34. Selection indices were calculated as follows using genetic parameters and economic values estimated in this study. I1=100+9.72(ADG–)–1.33(BF–), I2=100–0.14(D70 kg–)–1.16(BF–), where ADG is individual average daily gain, is average daily gain of contemporary group, BF is individual backfat thickness, is backfat thickness of contemporary group, D70 kg is individual days to 70 kg and is days to 70 kg of contemporary group

The objective of this study was to identify the effects of various environmental effects associated with performance testing results in pig population of domestic pig breeding farms. Performance test data collected from 2,000 to 2,010 were a total of 265,901 heads. By breeds, data consisted of Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire. Environmental factors considered in models were breed, sex, farm, year of test, season of test, and parity. Broad range of age at testing day averaged at 155 days of age were grouped as A (up to 140 days) B (141~150 days), C (151~160 days), D (161~170 days), and E (greater than 170 days). Traits analyzed were ADG, days to 90 ㎏, end weight (body weight at the test day), rib eye area, back fat thickness. Age group effects were all significant for all the traits studied (p<0.05). As ages at test day get greater, ADG, days to 90 ㎏ and end weight tended to be greater while ultrasound measures of rib eye area and back fat thickness tended to be less. This would be the results of linear age adjustments on ultrasound measures, that caused overestimation in younger age groups and underestimation in older age groups than in average age group (C). This was evidenced by looking at ultrasound measures before linear age adjustments were applied. We conclude that, for more accurate performance testing, testing within guided age interval should be abided. And further researches should be made on biologically justifiable methods of age adjustments especially for ultrasound measures.

Transgenic pigs are promising donor organisms for xenotransplantation as they share many anatomical and physiological characteristics with humans. Recently, a step has been moved closer to xenotransplantation by producing genetically modified pigs that has no α-1,3-Gal epitope, the major xenoantigens triggering HAR of pig to primate xenografts. Further genetic modifications such as expression of human complementary regulatory proteins, CD39, endothelial protein C receptor, heme-oxygenase 1, thrombomodulin, tissue factor pathway inhibitoras well as modulators of the HLA-E/β-2-microglobulin, and CTLA-4Ig are due to address for further rejection mechanisms and incompatibilities between porcine and primate blood coagulation systems. Although the pig is the favored species for use as a xenograft donor, a detailed description of the transgenic pig development and surgical technique is lacking which seems mandatory to address for broader understanding of this issue.

Since the Bovine sequencing and HapMap projects, there have been millions of genetic variations particularly including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) available throughout the cattle genome. While cataloguing substantial amounts of SNPs, copy number variation (CNV) has recently become getting great attention as an another form of genetic variation which is extensively distributed across the cattle genome. As it has been well known that CNVs can account for substantial proportions of phenotypic variance in other species including human, CNVs are highly expected to explain genetic variations of diverse economically important traits in cattle. Currently, two main approaches such as hybridization-based microarray and massively parallel sequencing-based method have been successfully applied to detect CNVs throughout the cattle genome. Although there is obvious difference of capabilities to detect genome-wide CNVs at fine scales between different platforms applied, all currently completed investigations exhibited that CNVs are extensively spread throughout the cattle genome as observed in other species. Despite these successes, there are still severe lacks of researches to identify multiple levels of CNVs from diverse cattle or multiple individuals, suggesting that there are a number of CNVs remained undiscovered. Furthermore, there are almost few investigations available to elucidate how each CNV is associated with traits of interest in cattle, so such functional study should be followed along with saturating most of potential CNVs on cattle genome.

This survey focused on consumer's consumption patterns for buying factors of domestic live stock products after foot and mouth disease (FMD). The purpose of this survey was to suggest basic information to reduce consumption when livestock diseases are occurred. Two methods were used for this survey. First method was to investigate internal data to understand consumption patterns when buying domestic livestock products. Second method included empirical analysis to understand how FMD affected consumer's consumption pattern. Survey was conducted in Chuncheon city. As the result of this survey, factors that affected the buying patterns of domestic livestock products were brand and expiration date. These results suggested that consumers recognized brand livestock products were safer than general livestock products and they have more interest for food safety than quality attributes of food when buying domestic livestock products.

This study was performed to analyze the causative agents of disease occurred in Korean black goat. Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) known as main causative agents of diarrhea and abortion in cattle were founded in Korean black goats. Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens are the main causes underlying diarrhea in Korean black goats as well as other animals. In addition, the orf virus was found as a causative agent of contagious ecthyma that shows frequent occurrence in Korean black goats. Leptospirosis was found in Korean black goats with low occurrence rate. However, unlike the reports from many other countries, we could not detect the antibodies for Johne’s disease and Neospora caninum in Korean black goats. These results are likely to contribute to improving the productivity of raising black goats as a field of livestock farming.

This study was investigated the effects of marinating beef with thirteen different commercial vinegars on quality traits of Biceps femoris (BF) muscle of Hanwoo. Samples were divided into thirteen portions and injected with vinegar which was equivalent to 10% of the sample weight. The samples were all marinated for 15 hrs at 4℃ for experiments. The pH and cooking loss were tended to decrease (p<0.05) on all the vinegars and swollen rate was increased only on pomegranate vinegar. Shear force was decreased on all the thirteen commercial vinegars except persimmon vinegar. Most of commercial vinegars had influenced on water holding capacity, excluding omija-persimmon, pomegranate and grape vinegars. The yield was the greatest with the aloe-apple (p<0.05). Redness (a) was stable on aloe-apple and omija-persimmon vinegars. With an improvement of experimental design and process for future work, the results could be suggested to industrial utilization wherein low-quality meat could be improved by simple marination.

The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of dietary cottonseed meal (CSM) supplementation on carcass and meat quality characteristics of Hanwoo (Korean cattle) bulls. Twenty two months-old-Hanwoo bulls of eight heads (4 heads per treatments) were fed for 5 months on a diet with or without (control) CSM (500 g/head/day). The samples of M. longissimus dorsi from carcasses were used for the quality measurement. Dietary CSM supplementation did not affect the carcass traits of bulls and pH value, drip loss, water-holding capacity and fatty acid composition of beef loin. Crude protein and crude ash content of beef loin were significantly (p<0.05) higher in beef loin from bulls fed CSM than in the control. During storage of 5 days at 4℃, CIE a*, b*, C* and total color values were significantly (p<0.05) higher in beef loin from bulls fed CSM than in the control. Overall, the present results indicate that dietary CSM supplementation may improve the oxidation stability of Hanwoo beef loin.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of wormwood meal addition on constituent of blood, and liver fatty acid in broiler chickens. Two-day old 25 male commercial broiler chicks were distributed to 5 treatments (wormwood meal levels ; T1 (1%), T2 (3%), T3 (5%), T4 (10%), and control (C)) for 5 weeks. Free fatty acids of liver were a little different among the treatments and the palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids were occupied 92.5% of total free fatty acids. Hemoglobin and hematocrite concentration of blood were significantly decreased (p<0.05) as the levels of wormwood meal increased, and serum albumin concentration of broilers was little different between 0 week and 5 week experiments. Also serum cholesterol, phospholipid, total cholesterol, and triglyceride concentration of liver in broilers were little different during the 5 weeks experiment. Serum triglyceride concentration was significantly increased (p<0.05) as levels of wormwood meal increased. These results indicate that dietary wormwood meal addition has a little positive effect on increasing unsaturated fatty acid and decreasing saturated fatty acid.

This study was conducted to estimate heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic correlations among growth traits (weaning weight, weight of 12 month, weight of 18 month, weight of 24 month). Growth data collected from steers (n=3,321) and 8,818 animals in pedigree were used for estimation of genetic parameters. Traits evaluated included live weight at 4 month (W4), 12 month (W12), 18 month (W18) and 24 month (W24). Parameters were estimated using an multitrait animal model and derivative-free restricted maximum likelihood procedures. Heritabilities estimated for growth traits at W4, W12, W18 and W24 were 0.21, 0.11, 0.08 and 0.14, respectively. Genetic correlations were in the range of 0.79 to 0.87. Phenotypic correlations were in the range of 0.16 to 0.81.

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD1) gene plays important role in fatty acid composition. In order to find marker-assisted selection (MAS) for improving the economic trait, this study was performed to identify the 878T>C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on SCD1 gene. Three genotypes (CC, CT, and TT) were detected in 878T>C SNP of SCD1 gene from 103 Hanwoo population by polymorphism chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and economic traits were analyzed by general linear model. The frequency of allele C and T was 0.534 and 0.466, also the genotype frequency of CC, CT and TT was 0.252, 0.563, and 0.184, respectively in the Hanwoo population. The TT genotype of SCD1 gene showed a significantly higher measures (p<0.05) of carcass weight (CW) than CT, CC genotype. No significant association was detected between genotype and other economic trait (marbling, backfat thickness, and longissimus muscle area) in this study. The results revealed that SCD1 gene 878T>C SNP could be useful for effective MAS to increase the economic quality in Hanwoo population.