750102Variation of the myostatin gene within Red Poll cattleClosedVouchersInnovate UKThe aim of this project is to quantify the effects of variation of the myostatin gene on production traits in Red Poll cattle. An 11-base pair deletion in this gene has been shown to cause double muscling, an extreme form of musculature, and has been associated with various traits including muscle depth, birth weight, growth rare, meat quality & calving ease in a variety of breeds, although the effects appear to vary among breeds, presumably due to other genetic differences. Recently this mutation has been identified in the UK Red Poll population which has raised the question of how best to manage it. By testing a large number of animals in the population we will be able to establish how extensive the mutation has become and what effect it has on economically important traits.Our breeders are very keen to have reliable information on the effects of the deletion in the breed and plan to use this information to make breeding decisions. (i.e. whether to breed only from animals that do not carry the mutation or to manage the mutation within herds). However in order to assess the effects of the mutation in the breed we require academic expertise. Our plan is to collect samples from 300 Red Poll cattle for which there is beef production data (measured via the EBLEX beef cattle recording scheme) and to perform a genetic test for the mutation. Our academic partner will then use statistical analysis to quantify the effect of this mutation on the production traits.