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thumbnail, A Piedmontese bull The Piedmontese ( or ) is a
breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...
of domestic cattle that originated in the region of
Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
, in north-west Italy. The calves are born fawn coloured, and turn grey-white as they mature. Piedmontese cattle carry a unique gene mutation identified as an inactive
myostatin Myostatin (also known as growth differentiation factor 8, abbreviated GDF8) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MSTN'' gene. Myostatin is a myokine that is produced and released by myocytes and acts on muscle cells to inhibit muscle ...
allele An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule. Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...
that causes
hypertrophic Hypertrophy is the increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its component cells. It is distinguished from hyperplasia, in which the cells remain approximately the same size but increase in number. Although hypertro ...
muscle growth, or double muscling.
Purebred Purebreds are cultivars of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be pedigreed. Purebreds breed true-to-type, which means the progeny of l ...
Piedmontese cattle are
homozygous Zygosity (the noun, zygote, is from the Greek "yoked," from "yoke") () is the degree to which both copies of a chromosome or gene have the same genetic sequence. In other words, it is the degree of similarity of the alleles in an organism. Mos ...
, meaning they have two identical alleles present for this unique gene. They have garnered attention from breeders of beef cattle in other parts of the world, including North and South America. A small group of select Piedmontese bulls and cows were imported into Canada in the late 1970s, and into the United States in the early 1980s, and were used as the foundation breeding stock to develop a new breed of beef cattle known as North American Piedmontese cattle.


History

Until the late nineteenth century there were numerous local types of Piedmontese cattle, including the Canavese, the Della Langa, the Demonte, the Ordinario di Pianura and the Scelta di Pianura. They were triple-purpose cattle, raised principally for
draught power A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for transportation (e.g. riding horses and camels), while other ...
, but valued also for meat and milk. A
herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders wh ...
was opened in 1877,
selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...
towards a dual-purpose type began, and the Piedmontese became relatively uniform in character. The postpartum hypertrophic muscle growth characteristic, known as "''groppa di cavallo''" or "horse rump", first appeared in 1886 in the
comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
of Guarene d'Alba. It was not in accordance with the then breed standard, and only later attracted the interest of breeders and scientists. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were about 680,000 Piedmontese cattle in Italy; by 1985 this had fallen to about 600,000. In 1957 the number registered in the herd-book was 851; by the end of 2011 it had risen to 267,243. In 2008 the total number in Italy was estimated at 300,000, of which 230,000 were registered.


Use

In Italy, the Piedmontese is a dual-purpose breed: the cattle are raised for their
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
, which is used in the production of several traditional cheeses of the region, including
Castelmagno Castelmagno (Occitan: ''Chastèlmanh'') is a small ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about west of Cuneo. The population of the municipality of Castelmagno ...
,
Bra A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, ; ), is a type of form-fitting underwear that is primarily used to support and cover a woman's breasts. A typical bra consists of a chest band that wraps around the torso, supporting two breast cups ...
,
Raschera Raschera is an Italian pressed fat or medium fat, semi-hard cheese made with raw or pasteurized cow milk, to which a small amount of sheep's and/or goat's milk may be added. It has an ivory white color inside with irregularly spaced small eyes, ...
, and
Toma Piemontese Toma is a soft or semi-hard Italian cow's milk cheese, noted for its excellent melting qualities. It is made primarily in the Aosta Valley (it is one of the region's specialties) and Piedmont regions of Italy. Toma varies with region and local ...
; and are also raised for meat, as
beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...
from Piedmontese cattle is seen as a premium product.


Muscular hypertrophy

Piedmontese beef is meat from cattle having one or two copies of the ''inactive''
myostatin Myostatin (also known as growth differentiation factor 8, abbreviated GDF8) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MSTN'' gene. Myostatin is a myokine that is produced and released by myocytes and acts on muscle cells to inhibit muscle ...
gene. This attribute provides a higher lean-to-fat ratio, as well as less marbling with less connective tissue than meat from cattle having the "active" version of the gene. The active-myostatin gene acts as a "governor" on muscle growth; myostatin is a protein that instructs muscles to stop growing. In effect, when inactive, as it is with Piedmontese cattle, it no longer prevents muscle development which is what allows for the hypertrophic condition sometimes referred to as "double muscling". Animal breeds developed as
homozygous Zygosity (the noun, zygote, is from the Greek "yoked," from "yoke") () is the degree to which both copies of a chromosome or gene have the same genetic sequence. In other words, it is the degree of similarity of the alleles in an organism. Mos ...
for myostatin deficiency may have reproduction problems due to their unusually heavy and bulky offspring, and require a more expensive diet and special care, including veterinary supervision. These factors may make it uneconomic to raise them. Piedmontese beef has a place in the specialist market because of its unusual properties, but may be at a disadvantage in the bulk market.


See also

*
Belgian Blue The Belgian Blue (, , both literally meaning "Belgian White-Blue") is a breed of beef cattle from Belgium. It may also be known as the , or (literally "fat buttocks" in Dutch). Alternative names for this breed include Belgian Blue-White; Be ...


References

{{Cattle breeds of Italy Cattle breeds originating in Italy Piedmont Beef cattle breeds Grey cattle