ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2019, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (5): 918-929.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2019.05.003

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Screening of Candidate Genes for Muscle Fiber Characteristics in Pig Using RNA-Seq

CHENG Zhimin, ZHANG Ningfang, WANG Yuanyuan, LE Baoyu, ZHANG Wanfeng, SONG Pengkang, GUO Xiaohong, GAO Pengfei, CAI Chunbo, CAO Guoqing, LI Bugao*   

  1. College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
  • Received:2018-11-21 Online:2019-05-23 Published:2019-05-23

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to explore the candidate genes and signal pathways affecting muscle fiber characteristics. In this study, muscle fiber diameter and density of longissimus dorsi of Mashen and Large White pigs aged 6 months were measured by HE staining, and the gene expressions in longissimus dorsi of the 2 pig breeds at 6 months old was detected by using RNA-Seq. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were used to study the function of differentially expressed genes(DEGs). The accuracy of RNA-Seq results was verified by qRT-PCR. The results showed that the fiber diameter of longissimus dorsi of Mashen pig was significantly shorter than that of Large White pig (P<0.01), and the fiber density of Mashen pig was greater than that of Large White pig (P<0.01). A total of 105 DEGs at least 2-fold change were identified, including 55 up-regulated genes and 50 down-regulated genes in longissimus dorsi of Mashen pig compared to Large White pig. GO enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs were mainly enriched in the cellular component related to mitochondrion and skeletal muscle differentiation biological processes, and KEGG analysis showed that these DEGs were mainly involved in the signaling pathways related to oxidative phosphorylation. The expression trends of 6 selected DEGs detected by qRT-PCR and RNA-Seq were the same, which indicated that the results of RNA-Seq were accurate and reliable. Based on the results of expression abundance, GO and KEGG analysis of DEGs, the genes of MYL3, MYH3 and MYH6 were found to affect muscle fiber characteristic by influencing the composition of muscle fiber. ND6 gene was related to muscle fiber type by involving in oxidative phosphorylation pathway in mitochondria. MICU2 gene was involved in keeping homeostasis of Ca2+ concentration in mitochondria and further affected cellular function. The genes of EGR1 and FOS coding transcription factors might affect muscle growth and development by regulating cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. This study preliminarily explored the reason causing significantly different muscle fiber characteristics between Mashen and Large White pigs, and provided a theoretical basis for improving meat quality in pig production.

CLC Number: