Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (1): 88-99.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2022.01.009

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Study on Muscle Fiber Type Transformation of Mongolian Horse during Fetal and Adult Period

DING Wenqi1, BAO Tugeqin1, REN Xiujuan1, MONGKE Togtokh1, LA Xima1, JIA Zijie1, AN Tana1, TIEMUQIER Aertengqimike1, HAN Haige1, TAO Nala2, DUGARJAVIIN Manglai1*, BAI Dongyi1*   

  1. 1. Equine Research Center, Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Equine Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Equine Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China;
    2. Xilingol Leagne Xianghuangqi Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Science and Technology Bureau, Xianghuangqi 013250, China
  • Received:2021-04-29 Online:2022-01-23 Published:2022-01-26

Abstract: The study aimed to explore the mechanism of muscle fiber type difference between fetal and adult Mongolian horses. In this study, three 4-month-old fetuses (two females and one male) and three 5-year-old healthy adult female horses were selected as a whole with 4 body-distributed and representative muscle tissues (triceps brachii, splenius, longissimus dorsi and gluteus medius). Fetal Mongolian horse muscle fiber was one group, and adult Mongolian horse muscle fiber was one group, the experiment carried out 3 biological repetitions.Firstly, the skeletal muscle samples of Mongolian horses were observed by immunohistochemical staining. Then, the skeletal muscle samples were subjected to RNA-seq to construct the mRNA expression profiles of skeletal muscle fibers in different periods of fetal and adult Mongolian horses. Differentially expressed genes were screened for GO and KEGG functional enrichment analysis. Histological results showed that the proportion of fast muscle fibers in the fetal period was significantly higher than that in the adult period. RNA-seq was used to screen candidate genes that might affect the transformation related to muscle fiber types. The gene expression profiles related to muscle fiber types in fetal and adult Mongolian horses were compared. A total of 250 differentially expressed genes were screened out. There were 27 up-regulated genes in adulthood, including TNNT1, MYOZ2 and ATP2A2, and 17 up-regulated genes in the fetal period, including MYL1, TNNT3 and ENO3. ATP2A2 and TNNT1 were mainly related to fast and slow muscle fiber type transformation, and these differentially expressed genes were also closely related to skeletal muscle growth and development. The results showed that the proportion of fast muscle fibers in fetal Mongolian horses was significantly higher than that in adult Mongolian horses. ATP2A2, MYOZ2 were mainly expressed in muscle fibers of adult Mongolian horse, ENO3, TNNI2 were mainly expressed in muscle fibers of fetal Mongolian horse. Calcium and AMPK signaling pathways are related to muscle fiber type conversion.The results of this experiment are of great significance to the study of Mongolian horse muscle fiber type transformation.

Key words: Mongolian horse, transcriptome, muscle fiber type

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