The objective of the present study was to identify (for the first time) polymorphisms in calpain 1 gene and to perform an association analysis between these polymorphisms with related economic traits in goose raised in a dehesa ecosystem. The results suggest the possibility of using molecular markers in CAPN1 gene as a potential tool for improving carcass and meat quality traits in goose breeding programmes.

The aim of the present study was to determine morphometric and meristic characteristics of two populations (wild and cultured) of Cichlasoma festae and to establish whether populations could be discriminated based on morphometric variability. Twenty-two morphometric and four meristic characters were used to test the hypothesis differentiation. The results suggested that the rearing system has influences and both groups were accurately separated by linear discriminant functions.

In this study, we used electronic feeding station observations of pigs to investigate their growth performance and feeding behavior. The S-shaped pattern of growth performance in three different breeds was observed as well as two peaks in feed intake activity. A lower feed intake and less occupation time in feeding implicate fiercer competition at these two peak times. The effective feed intake times for Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire breeds were 19, 16 and 19 min, respectively.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the glycogen synthase 1 (GYS1) mutation on performance traits in Noriker draft horse stallions. Individual scores of 32 performance traits were obtained from 169 stallions that took part in the 30-day performance test. The traits were analyzed using a linear model including the GYS1 mutation genotype, the testing year, and age as fixed effects. For the final performance score and 29 traits, no effect of the GYS1 mutation could be found.

Prosaposin (PSAP) is involved in muscle development and as a candidate gene in economic traits of cattle. Six novel SNPs of PSAP were identified and 47 traits in beef cattle measured. Association analysis revealed I10-65G > A, I10-162C > T, and E11-93C > G were significantly associated with carcass composition traits. Individuals with GCCCGC and ACCTCC haplotypes showed higher dressed weight, backfat thickness, and rib eye area, thus suggesting a genetic influence on cattle carcass composition.

Paired box 7 (Pax7) gene, a member of the paired box gene family, plays a critical role in animal growth and muscle development, especially in cell proliferation and self-renewal. In our study, the 10 bp duplication indel was detected in the promoter region within bovine Pax7 gene as well as its association with growth traits. This indel was significantly associated with the body weight in Xianan cattle, the body height in Jinjiang cattle, and the hip width in Pi'nan cattle.