Association of bovine carcass phenotypes with genes in an adaptive thermogenesis pathway.

Associations of carcass phenotypes with genes regulating fat and energy metabolism involved in adaptive thermogenesis were examined in beef cattle. Carcass weight (CW) was found to be associated with MAP2K6 and UCP2 genes; back fat thickness (BFT) was found to be associated with PPARGC1A, MAP2K6, and UCP2 genes; marbling score (MS) was found to be associated with PPARGC1A and MAP2K6 genes; and eye-muscle area (EMA) was found to be associated only with UCP2 gene (P < 0.05). Further analyses found significant associations of interactions between PPARGC1A and MAP2K6 genes with CW and MS. Especially, interactive genetic associations were identified between c.424 and 222 G>A in PPARGC1A and c.17-10118 T>G in MAP2K6 and between c.228+28619 A>G in PPARGC1A and c.17-10118 T>G in MAP2K6, and they were both detected for CW and MS at a significant level (P < 0.05). The current study suggested that the individual and interactive associations of PPARGC1A, MAP2K6, and UCP2 genes with carcass phenotypes might be resulted from the pathway with fat and energy metabolism through the adaptive thermogenesis.