Project description:To identify transcriptional markers for beef traits related to meat tenderness and moisture, we measured the transcriptome of the Longissimus dorsi skeletal muscle in 10 Korean native cattle (KNC). We analyzed the correlation between the beef transcriptome and measurements of four different beef traits, shear force (SF), water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), and loin eye area (LEA). We obtained non-overlapping and unique panels of genes showing strong correlations (|r| > 0.8) with SF, WHC, CL, and LEA, respectively. Functional studies of these genes indicated that SF was mainly related to energy metabolism, and LEA to rRNA processing. Interestingly, our data suggested that WHC is influenced by protein metabolism. Overall, the skeletal muscle transcriptome pointed to the importance of energy and protein metabolism in determining meat quality after the aging process. The panels of transcripts for beef traits may be useful for predicting meat tenderness and moisture. Experiment Overall Design: Gene expression profiles were correlated with beef traits measured at the same cattle.
Project description:Sex condition has been demonstrated to alter meat quality and sex is a major factor that affects the fatty acid composition of lipids of carcass dissectible or intramuscular depot fats. But the possible genetic molecular mechanism of gender causing meat quality differences is not well defined. Qinchuan cattle, Qinghai yak and Guangxi buffalo are three typical indigenous species of cattle in China. Obivious differences of meat quality exist among the three species of cattle. Few studies have been conducted to elucidate the muscle tissue expression of genes involved in pathways and mechanisms leading to meat quality differences beyond the phenotype properties of beef. Bovine Genome Arrays were used to construct muscle expression profiles of the longuissimus dorsi from Qinchuan cattle at 36 months and screen differentially expressed genes in the longuissimus dorsi muscle tissues among different genders of Qinchuan cattle, between Qinchuan cattle and Qinghai yak, and between Qinchuan cattle and Guangxi buffalo.
Project description:The intramuscular fat (IMF) content of different beef cattle breeds varies greatly, which plays an important role in taste and nutritional value. However, the molecular mechanism of fat metabolism and deposition in beef cattle is still not very clear. In this study, the meat quality traits of Angus cattle and Chinese Simmental cattle were compared, the transcriptome of the longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) between Angus cattle and Chinese Simmental cattle was then analyzed to identify key genes related to fat metabolism and adipogenesis by high-throughput RNA-seq technology. In the current study conducted a comprehensive analysis on the transcriptome of the longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) of Angus and Simmental cattle, and identified differentially expressed genes related to lipid metabolism,which may have a great impact on on the formation of IMF.
Project description:Beef quality is the first deciding factor for consumers to consider before purchasing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of suspension and aging time on beef quality. We compared the differences in pH, drip loss, cooking loss, color, shear force, myofibril fragmentation index (MFI) and electron microscope of three muscle tissues between Achilles tendon (AT) and neck-arm restraint (NR) suspensions during seven aging periods (day 0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 and 21) after slaughter using the carcasses of six Xinjiang brown cattle. We found that NR suspension could significantly increase water loss rate and MFI, as well as reduce shear force compared to AT suspension. The muscle fiber structure with NR suspension was more severely damaged. The proteomics of longissimus dorsi were checked for the post-mortem day 1, 7 and 14. We detected 50, 26, and 29 differential expressed proteins (DEPs) between NR and AT suspension at post-mortem day 1, 7 and 14, respectively. These proteins were involved in metabolic and muscle structure associated pathways, and contributed to a comprehensive understanding of suspension-dependent meat quality regulation by proteins in beef cattle. To conclude, NR suspension can accelerate the aging time of beef carcasses, which will reduce the cost of carcass suspension and bring more benefits in beef industry.
Project description:To identify transcriptional markers for beef traits related to meat tenderness and moisture, we measured the transcriptome of the Longissimus dorsi skeletal muscle in 10 Korean native cattle (KNC). We analyzed the correlation between the beef transcriptome and measurements of four different beef traits, shear force (SF), water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), and loin eye area (LEA). We obtained non-overlapping and unique panels of genes showing strong correlations (|r| > 0.8) with SF, WHC, CL, and LEA, respectively. Functional studies of these genes indicated that SF was mainly related to energy metabolism, and LEA to rRNA processing. Interestingly, our data suggested that WHC is influenced by protein metabolism. Overall, the skeletal muscle transcriptome pointed to the importance of energy and protein metabolism in determining meat quality after the aging process. The panels of transcripts for beef traits may be useful for predicting meat tenderness and moisture.
Project description:Wandong cattle are an autochthonous Chinese breed used extensively for beef production. The breed tolerates extreme weather conditions and raw feed and are resistant to tick-borne diseases. However, the genetic basis of testis development and sperm production as well as breeding management is not well established in local cattle. In this study, we performed total RNA-Seq and comprehensively analyzed the circ-RNA expression profiling of the testes samples of six bulls at 3 years and 3 months of developmental age. In total, 17 013 circ-RNAs were identified, of which 681 circRNAs (P-adjust < 0.05) were differentially expressed (DE). Among these DE circ-RNAs, 579 were upregulated and 103 were downregulated in calf and bull testes. The Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses revealed that the identified target genes were classified into three broad functional categories, including biological process, cellular component, and molecular function, and were enriched in the lysine degradation, cell cycle, and cell adhesion molecule pathways.