Efeito da introgressão da variante no gene da miostatina no desempenho de gado de corte

Abstract

The beef sector in Brazil has seen significant growth in recent years, with increases in exports and revenue. In 2022, the country exported over 2.26 million tons of beef, representing a 22.6% increase compared to the previous year. The Nelore breed is the most prevalent in the Brazilian cattle herd, but these animals exhibit variation in meat quality, leading to the adoption of genetic improvement techniques and crossbreeding with other breeds. Heterosis, or hybrid vigor, is an important factor in this context, where animals resulting from crossbreeding between different breeds show superior performance compared to purebred animals, and the greater the genetic distance between the breeds, the greater the heterosis effect. In this regard, this study aimed to evaluate the heterosis effect in the F1 (1/2 Belgian Blue x 1/2 Nelore) and F5 (1/32 Belgian Blue x 31/32 Nelore) groups, resulting from the crossbreeding of Belgian Blue and Nelore. Data on body weight and weight gain of 39 animals were analyzed over a period of 674 days, divided into breeding and rearing stages. According to the results, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the performance of the genetic groups during the study, with both F1 (425.98 kg) and F5 (407.17 kg) groups showing similar average weights. However, the F1 group exhibited a better (P>0.001) daily weight gain during the final phase of rearing compared to the F5 group. Although no significant variation was observed between the groups, the study highlights the importance of crossbreeding as a strategy to improve productive efficiency in cattle farming.