02161naa a2200325 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902200140006002400390007410000160011324501190012926000090024850001110025752011460036865300100151465300140152465300090153865300170154765300230156465300150158765300100160270000160161270000180162870000160164670000170166270000130167970000170169270000160170977301100172510627222022-02-02       2009    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d  a0309-17407 a10.1016/j.meatsci.2008.08.0172DOI1 aBÜNGER, L.  aMuscle fibre characteristics of two contrasting sheep breedsbScottish Blackface and Texel.h[electronic resource]  c2009  aArticle history: Received 29 March 2008; Received in revised form 26 August 2008; Accepted 31 August 2008.  aABSTRACT.- This study evaluates the effects of breed and sex, together with those of birth weight and litter size, on muscle fibre type characteristics in Texel (TEX) and Scottish Blackface sheep (SBF). The M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) of TEX had a significantly higher total muscle cross-sectional area (16%), a higher total fibre number (20%) and a higher muscle CT density (5%) than the SBF but had a similar average muscle fibre size. The frequency of slow fibres in the LTL in TEX was lower than in SBF (7.5% vs. 9.6%). Muscle fibre histochemistry similarly demonstrated that the oxidative fibre frequency in TEX was 10% lower than in SBF. The inter-fibre lipid content in TEX was also significantly lower than in SBF. Correspondingly, TEX displayed higher frequency (91.7% vs. 90.9% in SBF) and higher relative total area (92.5% vs. 90.4% in SBF) of fast fibres. These breed differences in muscle fibre traits indicate underlying genetic variation, and future analyses will evaluate the link of these traits to meat quality and assess the usefulness of these traits in breeding programmes.  2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.  aBreed  aHistology  aLamb  aMeat quality  aMuscle fibre types  aSex effect  aSheep1 aNAVAJAS, E.1 aSTEVENSON, L.1 aLAMBE, N.R.1 aMALTIN, C.A.1 aSIMM, G.1 aFISHER, A.V.1 aCHANG, K.C.  tMeat Science, 2009, Volume 81, Issue 2, Pages 372-381. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2008.08.017