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Ontogeny of factors thought to control the development of ovine muscle in utero
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2017
Extract
It is believed that there are time periods during the lifetime of an animal when inadequate nutrition may result in the animal not reaching its genetic potential. One sensitive period is during early foetal life at the time when muscle fibres are being formed from myogenic cells. The total numbers of muscle fibres for life are essentially set during this period. The aim of this study was to try and identify the ontogeny of muscle cell differentiation by quantifying the mRNA expression of ovine IGF-I, ovine IGF-II, and ovine myogenin, factors known to influence myoblast proliferation or differentiation. The aim was to gain an indication of the time period during gestation at which differentiation of the muscle cells commences. The period before differentiation (i.e. during proliferation) is potentially sensitive to external factors, such as nutrient supply. This information could be used to determine the time during pregnancy when adequate feeding is essential to ensure maximum muscle development of the offspring, and may allow the manipulation of diet to change muscle characteristics for meat production.
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- Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2003
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