Acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenases （ACAD） are a family of nuclear-coded, mitochondrial flavoenzymes that catalyze the alpha, and beta-dehydrogenation of fatty acids. The eighth member of this family, ACAD8 catalyzes the valine catabolism. In this study, the bovine ACAD8 full-length mRNA and genomic DNA sequence were obtained and its gene structure was determined through alignment of the genomic DNA sequence to the mRNA sequence. The mRNA sequence consisted of a 1,251 bp open reading frame （ORF） flanked by a 37 bp 5＇-untranslated region （UTR） and a 444 bp 3＇-UTR; and its full-length genomic DNA sequence was 13,814 bp in length and included 11 exons and 10 introns. One A-G single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） was revealed at nucleotide 13,408 （GenBank accession No. DQ435445） in the bovine ACAD8 gene by sequencing the polymerase chain reaction （PCR） products of 6 randomly selected individuals from the sample population. Different genotypes were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism （RFLP）. The association analysis of this SNP in bovine ACAD8 with production traits in 178 unrelated steers from 5 breeds showed that it had a significant effect on the daily gain and the beef tenderness （P〈0.05）. Cattle with the G allele grew more rapidly and the beef they produced was more tender than those with the A allele. Thus, this SNP of the bovine ACAD8 gene can be used as an indicator to improve the growth rate and the beef tenderness.
