Patent ID: 7662564

Claim:
A method for identifying a bovine animal having a higher marbling score (MBS), thicker subcutaneous fat depth (SFD), or a combination thereof said method comprising: (a) obtaining a biological sample from said bovine animal, said biological sample comprising nucleic acids encoding the bovine transcription factor A (“TFAM”) gene from said bovine; (b) detecting in said nucleic acids the presence of at least one of: (i) a C in both alleles of the TFAM gene at position corresponding to position 379 of SEQ ID NO: 1; (ii) a C in both alleles of the TFAM gene at position corresponding to position 387 of SEQ ID NO: 1; (c) correlating the presence of the nucleic acid content of (b) with a higher marbling score, thicker subcutaneous fat depth (SFD), or a combination thereof in said bovine animal.