Impact of two myostatin (MSTN) mutations on weight gain and lamb carcass classification in Norwegian White Sheep (Ovis aries)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our aim was to estimate the effect of two <it>myostatin </it>(<it>MSTN</it>) mutations in Norwegian White Sheep, one of which is close to fixation in the Texel breed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The impact of two known <it>MSTN </it>mutations was examined in a field experiment with Norwegian White Sheep. The joint effect of the two <it>MSTN </it>mutations on live weight gain and weaning weight was studied on 644 lambs. Carcass weight gain from birth to slaughter, carcass weight, carcass conformation and carcass fat classes were calculated in a subset of 508 lambs. All analyses were carried out with a univariate linear animal model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The most significant impact of both mutations was on conformation and fat classes. The largest difference between the genotype groups was between the wild type for both mutations and the homozygotes for the c.960delG mutation. Compared to the wild types, these mutants obtained a conformation score 5.1 classes higher and a fat score 3.0 classes lower, both on a 15-point scale.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Both mutations reduced fatness and increased muscle mass, although the effect of the frameshift mutation (c.960delG) was more important as compared to the 3'-UTR mutation (c.2360G>A). Lambs homozygous for the c.960delG mutation grew more slowly than those with other <it>MSTN </it>genotypes, but had the least fat and the largest muscle mass. Only c.960delG showed dominance effects.</p

The organizing and regulation of mountain guiding in Scandinavia 1820–2016, with a glance at the Alps

In this article, we study how mountain guiding was organized and regulated in Scandinavia and the Alps between 1820 and 2015 and focus on the most important di erences and similarities in Scandinavia, and between Scandinavia and the Alps. We conclude that Switzerland and Chamonix (France) represent two di erent systems in the Alps during the nineteenth century. However, through the emergence of national and international guide unions the regulation of mountain guiding in the Alps today appears uni ed, with a close connection between national regulation and mountain guide unions. In Scandinavia, Norway and Sweden historically had similar practices organizing and regulating mountain guiding, where a relatively strong layman tradition emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. In 2008, legal decisions led Sweden to change its system to match the Alp model, while Norway held on to the layman tradition. This leaves mountain guiding in Norway as a distinctly less regulated eld than in France, and Switzerland, as in and Sweden.