Project description:Beef tenderness is a complex trait of economic importance for the beef industry. Understanding the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying this trait may help improve the accuracy of breeding programs and deliver a better product quality to consumers. However, little is known about epigenetic effects in the muscle of Bos taurus and their implications in tenderness, and no studies have been conducted in Bos indicus. Therefore, we analyzed Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) to search for differences in the methylation profile of Bos indicus skeletal muscle with extreme values for beef tenderness (tender = 6 animals, tough = 6 animals).
Project description:Satellite cells are myogenic precursor cells in adult skeletal muscle and play a crucial role in skeletal muscle repair, remodeling, and maintenance. Like myoblasts, satellite cells have the ability to proliferate, differentiate, and fuse to form multinucleated myofibers. In this study we aimed to identify the enhancers and the transcription factors binding to these enhancers that control gene expression in proliferating and differentiating bovine satellite cells. Using ChIP-seq, we identified 56,973 and 54,470 active enhancers, genomic regions marked with both H3K4me1 and H3K27ac, and 50,956 and 59,174 repressed enhancers, genomic regions marked with H3K27me3, in proliferating and differentiating bovine satellite cells, respectively. Motif enrichment analyses revealed many transcription factors including the AP-1 family transcription factors that regulate gene expression in proliferating bovine satellite cells and many transcription factors besides MyoG that regulate gene expression in differentiating bovine satellite cells.
Project description:In this study, 7188 bovine skeletal muscle lncRNAs were identified by RNA-Seq and a stringent screening procedure in four different muscle tissues. These lncRNAs shared many characteristics with other mammalian lncRNAs, such as the shorter ORF and lower expression level than mRNAs. Furthermore, the chromosomal locations and global expression patterns for these lncRNAs were also described in detail.Our results provided a global expression pattern of lncRNAs specific to bovine skeletal muscle and supplied us important targets for studying the function of lncRNAs in muscle development, which would help to better identify mechanisms underlying muscle development in bovine.
