Effects of biological source on cooking and palatability attributes of beef produced for the Japanese market

Boneless beef loin samples from five biological sources (Japanese Wagyu, American Wagyu (3 4 - 7 8 Wagyu), Angus, Longhorn and US Choice) were evaluated for cooking and palatability attributes as shabu-shabu, steaks and roasts. Japanese Wagyu beef was superior in palatability compared to Angus, Longhorn and US Choice beef when prepared as shabu-shabu or as steaks. Very palatable beef was produced for the Japanese market when the Wagyu breed and a controlled, extended feeding period were utilized. The results were more equivocal when the beef was prepared as roasts, but it is unlikely that a substantial demand for roasts will develop in Japan due to high retail costs and traditions in cookery.     

A rapidly evolving homeobox at the site of a hybrid sterility gene

The homeodomain is a DNA binding motif that is usually conserved among diverse taxa. Rapidly evolving homeodomains are thus of interest because their divergence may be associated with speciation. The exact site of the Odysseus (Ods) locus of hybrid male sterility in Drosophila contains such a homeobox gene. In the past half million years, this homeodomain has experienced more amino acid substitutions than it did in the preceding 700 million years; during this period, it has also evolved faster than other parts of the protein or even the introns. Such rapid sequence divergence is driven by positive selection and may contribute to reproductive isolation.