Invitro synthesis and degradation capabilities and the cathepsin D activity of the skeletal muscles of experimentally induced Selenium-Vitamin E deficient lambs were investigated. Twenty-one Dorset x Coopworth x Suffolk lambs were blocked by weight and assigned to one of the following treatments: 1) a basal diet of 85% whole shelled corn and 15% mixed grass hay plus a mineral supplement that was low in Se and E (-Se-E), 2) the basal diet and deficient mineral mixture as fed in treatment 1 with the addition of a casein encapsulated fat supplement (-Se-E+fat), 3) the basal diet plus a mineral mixture which contained supplemental Se and E (+Se+E). Upon completion of the feeding trial, lambs which had been receiving the -Se-E treatment had the greatest body and individual muscle weights. The -Se-E+fat treatment had the lowest degradation rates and the highest synthesis rates. Cathepsin D activity was found to be lowest in the -Se-E+fat treatment. The -Se-E treatment was observed to have the highest degradation rate and the next highest synthesis rate indicating an increased rate of muscle turn-over. In all cases, the degradation rates were positively correlated with cathepsin D activity. / Master of Science