Patrocles
Studying the muscular hypertrophy of Texel sheep by forward genetics, we have identified an A-to-G transition in the 3'UTR of the GDF8 gene that reveals an illegitimate target site for microRNAs miR-1 and miR-206 that are highly expressed in skeletal muscle. This causes the down-regulation of this muscle-specific chalone and hence contributes to the muscular hypertrophy of Texel sheep.