The homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase (HGD) gene, which consists of 14 exons and spans approximately 42630bp on Bos taurus autosome 1 (BTA 1), is one of the six enzymes required for catabolism of the aromatic amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine. It has been reported that BTA1 harbors quantitative trait loci that effect marbling score (MS), carcass weight (CW), and longissimus muscle area (LMA) in cattle. The aim of this study was to identify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the HGD gene and to analyze their association with economic traits in Korean cattle (Hanwoo). Genetic polymorphisms were screened by direct sequencing, which detected 10 SNPs (