Why are Belgian Blue cows muscular?
Last Updated April 3, 2019. They’re called Belgian blue bulls, and the reason they look so bulky is because of a naturally occurring mutation called “double muscling,” which occurs when the animals lack a certain protein that regulates muscle growth.
Which type of mutation occurred in the Belgian Blue myostatin?
Double muscling (increased muscle mass) is a characteristic found in a breed of cattle called Belgian Blue. The double muscling characteristic has been traced to a single, autosomal, gene mutation, causing an eleven base pair deletion in the myostatin gene. This results in a non- functioning protein being made.
Does myostatin limit muscle growth?
Myostatin Is a Negative Regulator of the Muscle Mass Myostatin is an autocrine and paracrine hormone produced by muscle cells that inhibits muscle differentiation and growth.
What type of mutation is observed in the myostatin gene in double muscle cattle?
(B) The deletion mutation is detected by fluorometric sequencing of myostatin cDNA from normal- and double-muscled cattle.
How do Belgian Blue cows breed?
Belgian Blues were developed via selective breeding over a period of 150 years. Originating in Belgium, this breed of cattle came about when farmers successfully isolated a genetic trait that led to increased muscle fibers. The result is a 5 to 10 percent increase in muscle fibers for crossbred calves.
What is myostatin deficiency?
Collapse Section. Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy is a rare condition characterized by reduced body fat and increased muscle size. Affected individuals have up to twice the usual amount of muscle mass in their bodies. They also tend to have increased muscle strength.
Are Belgian Blue cattle inbred?
Inbreeding in the Belgian Blue breed was shown to result form great inequalities in the number of A.I. bulls coming from the same sire, sire of sire,… the larger this variation, the higher the subsequent rate of inbreeding.
Is there a disease that makes you muscular?
Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy is a rare condition characterized by reduced body fat and increased muscle size. Affected individuals have up to twice the usual amount of muscle mass in their bodies. They also tend to have increased muscle strength.
What causes myostatin deficiency?
This condition is not known to cause any medical problems, and affected individuals are intellectually normal. Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy is caused by mutations in the MSTN gene . It follows an incomplete autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance.
What causes double muscle?
Double muscling is a partially recessive trait present in some beef breeds. It shows a high frequency in some breeds, while in others the frequency is low, and double-muscled individuals are rare. The double muscling is caused by an allelic series of mutations that cause a loss of function of the myostatin gene (GDF8).
Why are Piedmontese so muscular?
It is characterized primarily by an increase in the number of fibers in affected muscles. The individual fibers are of normal size and structure. This is in contrast to findings in other cattle with increased muscle bulk that are not double-muscled, in which a normal number of hypertrophied muscle fibers is found.
Why are Belgian Blue cows selectively bred?
All About Belgian Blues Belgian Blues were developed via selective breeding over a period of 150 years. Originating in Belgium, this breed of cattle came about when farmers successfully isolated a genetic trait that led to increased muscle fibers. Belgian Blues can experience some other health problems, too.
What causes the muscularity of Belgian Blue cattle?
The muscularity of Belgian Blue cattle is due to genetic mutations in the myostatin gene. Myostatin is one of a family of transforming growth factor-beta proteins (also considered a hormone) that limits the growth of skeletal muscle mass. The genetic mutations of the myostatin gene causes muscle hyperplasia,…
What happens when Myostatin is not present in cattle?
When myostatin is not present, there is no brake on proliferation of myoblasts, leading to more muscle fibers, and studies showed that a homozygous deletion in the myostatin gene of double-muscled cattle results in double the number of muscle fibers as in other breeds resulting in increased muscle weight ( Wegner et al., 2000 ).
Are there myostatin mutations in the Beef Shorthorn breed?
The Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society directors are also aware that there are examples of cattle within the Beef Shorthorn breed that appear to be exhibiting characteristics associated with a myostatin mutation. This is not a surprise given that the first documented case of double muscling was 200 years ago in Durham cattle.
Is myostatin a negative controller of myoblasts?
In the Piedmontese and Belgian Blue double-muscled cattle, a deletion in the myostatin gene occurs (Bellinge et al., 2005) leading to increased myoblast proliferation and delayed differentiation. Myostatin is a negative controller, as it inhibits the proliferation of myoblasts and delays differentiation (reviewed by Picard et al., 2002 ).