Meat & Livestock Australia - Strategic Research & Development

“I have been using LAMBPLAN (Sheep Genetics) since its inception, and am finding my involvement with the SheepGenomics research program fascinating. I look forward to seeing this program realise its potential and add value to my seedstock business.”

Guy Bowen

Joanne and Guy Bowen – Mount Ronan, York, WA

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE	KPIs	OUTCOMES	BENEFITS	FUTURE
Develop basic and emerging technologies to improve industry productivity, profitability and sustainability	Two sheep gene markers for increased muscling commercialised Develop molecular tests for six soil-borne organisms and two plant roots for field evaluation One commercial prototype of dose-controlled electrical stimulation operating in a beef and sheepmeat processing plant	Two new markers being validated against existing commercial markers and new targets identified Ten molecular assays in field evaluation trials Smart Stimulation installed in beef and sheep plants	The availability of simple tests for carriers of these muscling genes will accelerate genetic progress Accelerated studies of soil biology and plant root systems by researchers Reduced eating quality variations, labour and costs to processors	Comprehensive DNA marker discovery and estimate of the influence on production traits Assess impacts of different management treatments using DNA assays Evaluate the potential of Smart Stimulation to predict final pH and tenderness

Dr Alan McKay (SARDI) examining results of pasture soil DNA assays to help develop practical tools for livestock industries. - Image: Ian Riley

New technologies for on-farm application

The transition of DNA technologies from the laboratory into practical tools for continued innovation in the livestock industries is a common theme this year in our strategic science program, which covers SheepGenomics, beef genetic technologies, pastures and soil biology. Our overarching strategy harvests global advances in genomic science and technology, and harnesses them in projects targeting long-standing or intractable problems in the red meat industries such as net feed intake for cattle, parasite resistance in sheep and drought tolerance in pasture plants.

Accelerating the current rates of genetic improvement is a goal shared by both the cattle and sheepmeat industries, and DNA marker technologies are being developed for each. This year MLA and other co-investors in the previous CRCs for beef licensed Catapult Genetics to commercialise four beef markers for feed conversion efficiency, and our SheepGenomics program evaluated two sheep markers in commercial flocks for increased muscling in preparation for commercialisation and use in breeding value calculations.

Rapid discovery of markers (apart from the new novel markers in the sheep industry, over 100 potential markers for beef were discovered this year), validation of marker performance claims, and integration of markers with existing breed improvement approaches are challenges facing each industry. By working collaboratively with the applied research community, we are achieving synergies between the investments made with beef producer levies and those made using sheep producer levies.

Development of the new SNP chip technological platform (next generation DNA markers) will allow both industries to move beyond small numbers of markers to groups of a hundred or more (up to 60,000 are anticipated for the sheep industry next year), and achieve much greater certainty and timeliness for breeding decisions. Research, both within and outside MLA funded programs, is developing a new type of breeding value which incorporates all the SNP chip information into a breeding value system like the BREEDPLAN estimated breeding values.

Meat quality science

Recent approaches, such as electrical stimulation technologies, have improved the variability in eating quality of sheepmeat by 200% and this year we have further improved both sheepmeat and beef via more finely tuned processing*.

Accurate online measurement coupled with dose controlled interventions has now been demonstrated for the first time using new Smart Stimulation technology on individual beef and lamb carcases. This reduces eating quality variations across entire production batches by 10%. Smart Stimulation now also provides accurate, early predication of either cold-shortened or heat-toughened beef, corrects this failure and aligns the product to comply with MSA via the electrical stimulation intervention.

The next phase will be to further develop technology to measure additional eating quality traits that more accurately define eating quality and deliver this precisely defined product to the market. *

Source: Sheepmeat eating quality research (2005)

< Back | Top | Next >

Recipient's email:
Sender's name:
Sender's email:
Subject:
Message:	I think you will be interested in this page from the MLA 2007 Annual Report. Just click on the following link. http://mla07.designate.com.au/strategic_research.php

	Click the larger "A" to make the text bigger and click the smaller "A" to return to the original size.
	To print out the annual report pages you are viewing click Print. You can also use your default print function from your keyboard.
	If you would like to email a reference to the page you are viewing to a colleague or friend click Email. The email message will already be setup for you with a link to the page and you can add additional information if you wish.
	Click Downloads to access a complete set of PDF files of the annual report. You will also be able to download a single PDF file of the entire annual report here.
	To view the complete sitemap of the Annual Report click the Sitemap button.
	To search for a particular word or phrase enter the criteria in the search field and either click on the Search button or simply hit Enter or Return on your keyboard.