A whole-genome scan was carried out to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing beef fatty acid composition using a CharolaisxHolstein population established using a balanced F2 and Backcross breeding design. The phenotypes considered in this study included a total of 24 fatty acid related traits determined in loin muscle samples of the 235 second-generation cross-bred bull calves of the herd. The QTL regression analysis performed, based on 165 microsatellite markers distributed across the 29 bovine autosomes, identified 34 QTL with F-ratios exceeding the 5% chromosome-wide significance threshold. Three of these QTL, one located on chromosome 1 (for the content on linoleic acid, C18:2n-6) and two on chromosome 10 (for the content of gamma-linoleic DPA-docosapentaenoic and DPA-docosapentaenoic, C20:3n-6 and C22:5n-3), also exceeded the 5% genome-wide significance level. A follow-up analysis correcting for intramuscular fat content showed that some of the QTL detected initially (e.g. those localised on chromosome 22) were influenced by fat deposition differences between the founder breeds. The coincident location of some of the linkage associations identified and QTL previously reported for beef fatty acid composition and other meat quality traits, in the same or other cattle populations, provides supporting evidence for the results reported here.
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