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Muscle transcriptomic analyses in Angus cattle with divergent tenderness

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Abstract

Beef tenderness contributes significantly to variation of beef palatability, and is largely influenced by various genetic and environmental factors. To identify candidate genes and pathways related to beef tenderness, we analyzed the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle of Angus cattle that had different degrees of tenderness, measured by Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF). Microarray and RT-PCR analyses identified 53 genes that were differentially expressed in LD samples categorized as either tough or tender, including myosin, heavy chain 3 skeletal muscle embryonic (MYH3), myosin heavy chain 8 skeletal muscle perinatal (MYH8), guanylate binding protein 5 (GBP5), fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), Stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase (SCD), Fatty acid synthase (FASN), ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 1 (UHRF1). Most of these genes are involved in lipid metabolism and skeletal muscle contraction. Employing Gene ontology (GO) and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA), several GO terms and pathways were found to be related to hydrolase, peptidase and GTPase activity, lipid metabolism, small molecule biochemistry, molecular transport, and tissue development. Overall, this analysis provides insight into the metabolic relationships between muscle biology and beef quality.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by China Scholarship Council (CSC), Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) and Jorgensen Endowment Funds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China

    Chunping Zhao & Linsen Zan

  2. Department of Animal & Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Chunping Zhao, Fei Tian, Ying Yu, Juan Luo, Qiong Hu, Brian J. Bequette, M. Scott Updike & Jiuzhou Song

  3. Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, College of Animal Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Ying Yu

  4. Bovine Functional Genomic Laboratory, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA

    Ransom L. Baldwin VI & George Liu

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  1. Chunping Zhao
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Correspondence to Linsen Zan or Jiuzhou Song.

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Zhao, C., Tian, F., Yu, Y. et al. Muscle transcriptomic analyses in Angus cattle with divergent tenderness. Mol Biol Rep 39, 4185–4193 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-011-1203-6

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