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Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat...
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Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat Quality, and Flavor

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Small Ruminants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 7913

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xiangpeng Yue

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Interests: meat quality; flavor precursors; Y chromosome; genetic regulation; omics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Long Guo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Interests: ruminant nutrient; feed additives; molecular nutrition; production quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The world mutton industry is developing rapidly. The production of high-quality mutton with flavor has become the core direction for producers to cater to the market. Meat quality and flavor are combined traits and governed by many factors, which included genetics, postmortem treatment, nutrition, environment, and their interactions. Using high-throughput omics technology to understand meat quality traits is helpful to produce high-quality mutton. In addition, methods of improving meat products through nutritional management methods to improve performance and intramuscular fat deposition in ewes and lambs are also common.

This Special Issue of Animals, “Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat Quality and Flavor”, will explore recent advances in ewes’ and lambs’ meat quality and flavor from various perspectives, including but not limited to:

  1. Research progress on the effects of genetics, nutrition, environment, and other factors on lamb or ewe meat quality and/or flavor;
  2. Recent developments in identifying and managing factors affecting fattened ewes’ and lambs’ performance;
  3. Application of genome and other high-throughput sequencing technologies to study meat quality-related traits.

Prof. Dr. Xiangpeng Yue
Dr. Long Guo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sheep
  • flavor precursors
  • meat quality
  • management
  • genetics
  • feed

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1638 KiB  
Article
An On-Station Analysis of Factors Affecting Growth Traits of Pure Red Maasai and Dorper Sheep Breeds under an Extensive Production System
by George Wanjala, Nelly Kichamu, Ludovic Toma Cziszter, Putri Kusuma Astuti and Szilvia Kusza
Animals 2023, 13(2), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020300 - 15 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2029
Abstract
This comparative study aimed to evaluate genetic and environmental factors’ effects on the growth traits of lambs in Dorper and Red Maasai (RedM) sheep breeds. The data analyzed contained the following measurements: birth weight (Bwt), weaning weight (Wwt), yearling weight (Ywt), birth type [...] Read more.
This comparative study aimed to evaluate genetic and environmental factors’ effects on the growth traits of lambs in Dorper and Red Maasai (RedM) sheep breeds. The data analyzed contained the following measurements: birth weight (Bwt), weaning weight (Wwt), yearling weight (Ywt), birth type (single or twins), and details on each lamb’s dam (dam ID and age) and sire. Except for the RedM, whose birth weight decreased with time, both breeds generally showed an increase in other growth weights across the study period, with yearly variations affecting both breeds. Additionally, analysis by a linear mixed model with restricted maximum likelihood (REML) showed that only breed as a factor significantly (p < 0.05) influenced birth weight; breed, sex, and birth type all significantly (p < 0.05) influenced weaning weight, whereas season, sex, and dam age significantly (p < 0.05) influenced yearling weight. The RedM breed outperformed the Dorper breed in post-weaning growth rate, demonstrating early resilience and adaptation to local environmental factors independent of maternal influence. Breed and non-genetic factors play a vital role in the growth of lambs, and the results of this study offer an opportunity for improved farm management under an extensive production system and selection for the conservation of the indigenous Red Maasai breed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat Quality, and Flavor)
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17 pages, 5064 KiB  
Article
Effects of the Expressions and Variants of the CAST Gene on the Fatty Acid Composition of the Longissimus Thoracis Muscle of Grazing Sonid Sheep
by Xin Guo, Terigele Li, Datong Lu, Takahisa Yamada, Xihe Li, Siqin Bao, Jiasen Liu, Gerelt Borjigin, Ming Cang and Bin Tong
Animals 2023, 13(2), 195; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020195 - 04 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1494
Abstract
Fatty acid (FA) composition has an important impact on the nutrition and flavor of meat, and on consumer health, and is receiving more attention in the sheep industry. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the expression levels of the CAST gene [...] Read more.
Fatty acid (FA) composition has an important impact on the nutrition and flavor of meat, and on consumer health, and is receiving more attention in the sheep industry. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the expression levels of the CAST gene and the FA composition in the longissimus thoracis (LL) muscle, to identify novel variants of CAST, and to perform association analysis with the FA composition in grazing Sonid lambs. The correlation results showed that high expression levels of CAST are correlated with better FA compositions and classes in LL. For association studies, the results showed that c.1210C>T and c.1437G>A in LD-M, and c.2097C>T mutations are associated with some compositions and classes of FA in the LL of grazing Sonid sheep. Two missense c.646G>C (G216R) and c.1210C>T (R404C) mutations were predicted to influence the Calpain_inhib domains of CAST. Thus, the correlation results and associated mutations are expected to be genetic selection markers for the FA composition and meat quality of grazing Sonid lamb muscle and provide new insights into sheep meat quality traits influenced by the ovine CAST gene. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat Quality, and Flavor)
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11 pages, 258 KiB  
Article
Effects of Glutamine on Rumen Digestive Enzymes and the Barrier Function of the Ruminal Epithelium in Hu Lambs Fed a High-Concentrate Finishing Diet
by Qiujue Wu, Zhongying Xing, Jiahui Liao, Longlong Zhu, Rongkai Zhang, Saiqiao Wang, Cong Wang, Yan Ma and Yuqin Wang
Animals 2022, 12(23), 3418; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12233418 - 05 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1174
Abstract
The present experiment aimed to research the effects of glutamine (Gln) on the digestive and barrier function of the ruminal epithelium in Hu lambs fed a high-concentrate finishing diet containing some soybean meal and cottonseed meal. Thirty healthy 3-month-old male Hu lambs were [...] Read more.
The present experiment aimed to research the effects of glutamine (Gln) on the digestive and barrier function of the ruminal epithelium in Hu lambs fed a high-concentrate finishing diet containing some soybean meal and cottonseed meal. Thirty healthy 3-month-old male Hu lambs were randomly divided into three treatments. Lambs were fed a high-concentrate diet and supplemented with 0, 0.5, and 1% Gln on diet for 60 days. The experimental results show that the Gln treatment group had lower pepsin and cellulase enzyme activity, propionate acid concentration, and IL-6, TNF-α, claudin-1, and ZO-1 mRNA expression in the ruminal epithelium (p < 0.05); as well as increases in lipase enzyme activity, the ratio of propionic acid to acetic acid, the IL-10 content in the plasma, and the mRNA expression of IL-2 and IL-10 in the ruminal epithelium, in contrast to the CON (control group) treatment (p < 0.05). Taken together, the findings of this present study support the addition of Gln to improve digestive enzyme activity, the ruminal epithelium’s barrier, and fermentation and immune function by supplying energy to the mononuclear cells, improving the ruminal epithelium’s morphology and integrity, and mediating the mRNA expression of tight junction proteins (TJs) and cytokines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat Quality, and Flavor)
14 pages, 311 KiB  
Article
Effect of the Replacement of Maize Silage and Soyabean Meal with Mulberry Silage in the Diet of Hu Lambs on Growth Performance, Serum Biochemical Indices, Slaughter Performance, and Meat Quality
by Mingyan Wang, Haoqi Han, Yuan Shang, Liyang Zhang, Yu Zhang, Chuanyou Su, Hongxia Lian, Tong Fu and Tengyun Gao
Animals 2022, 12(22), 3164; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12223164 - 16 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1405
Abstract
Maize silage has a high demand for fertilizer and water. As an unconventional feed resource, mulberry silage has the potential to replace most maize silage and to alleviate the shortage of roughage in the mutton sheep industry in China. The purpose of this [...] Read more.
Maize silage has a high demand for fertilizer and water. As an unconventional feed resource, mulberry silage has the potential to replace most maize silage and to alleviate the shortage of roughage in the mutton sheep industry in China. The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of the replacement of maize silage and soyabean meal with mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs on growth performance, serum biochemical indices, slaughter performance, and meat quality. Ninety-six healthy Hu lambs were randomly divided into four groups with six replicates per group and four lambs per replicate. The amounts of 0, 20, 40, and 60% of maize silage were replaced by mulberry silage in each group (denoted as CON, L, M, and H, respectively). The results showed that replacing maize silage with mulberry silage had no significant effect on the growth performance or the slaughter performance of Hu lambs (p > 0.05). Feeding Hu lambs with mulberry silage significantly reduced serum glucose (GLU) and the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) content (p < 0.05), and it increased the content of ether extract (EE) in the longissimus dorsi muscle (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the percentage of EAA in the M and H groups was significantly lower than that in the CON and L groups (p < 0.05). In addition, in the fatty acid profile, the percentage of C16:1 in the M group was significantly increased, while the percentage of C18:0 and C20:0 were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Based on these findings, it was recommended that 20–40% of maize silage be replaced by mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat Quality, and Flavor)
10 pages, 1861 KiB  
Article
Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β (GSK3β) Regulates Myogenic Differentiation in Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells of Sheep
by Jingquan Yang, Haosen Yang, Linjie Wang and Ping Zhou
Animals 2022, 12(20), 2789; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12202789 - 15 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1226
Abstract
Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) has a vital role in the regulation of many cellular processes. However, the role of GSK3β in muscle cell differentiation in sheep remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the function of GSK3β in skeletal muscle satellite cells [...] Read more.
Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) has a vital role in the regulation of many cellular processes. However, the role of GSK3β in muscle cell differentiation in sheep remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the function of GSK3β in skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs) of sheep. An overexpression of GSK3β significantly inhibited myotube formation as well as the mRNA levels of myogenic genes (MyoD, MyoG, MyHC1, and MyHC2a) in sheep SMSCs. SB216763 treatment had a time-course effect on the phosphorylation levels of sheep GSK3β. In addition, reducing the activity of GSK3β lead to the promotion of sheep SMSCs differentiation as well as the mRNA levels of myogenic genes (MyoD, MyoG, MyHC1, and MyHC2a). This study illustrated the function of GSK3β to inhibit myogenesis in sheep SMSCs, which provided evidence for studying the mechanisms involved in the regulation of sheep SMSCs differentiation by GSK3β. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Factors Affect Fattened Ewes’ and Lambs’ Performance, Carcass Conformation, Meat Quality, and Flavor)
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