Variation in exon 10 of the ovine calpain 3 gene (CAPN3) and its association with meat yield in New Zealand Romney sheep

Variation in the ovine CAPN3 gene was analysed using PCR-single strand conformational polymorphism, and its effect on growth and carcass traits was assessed in 513 New Zealand Romney lambs produced by 17 unrelated rams. Among the four allelic variants detected, the presence of variant *02 was found to be associated with an increased proportion of shoulder yield (absent: 32.6 ± 0.01%; present: 33.4 ± 0.03%; P = 0.016), and tended to be associated with increased shoulder yield (lean meat yield of the shoulder expressed as a percentage of the hot carcass weight) (absent: 16.6 ± 0.06%; present: 17.02 ± 0.20%; P = 0.067). No association was detected with growth traits or other carcass traits.