Comparison of long noncoding RNA between muscles and adipose tissues in beef cattle.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate the expression of mRNA and can affect various biological processes and phenotypes. Currently, studies of lncRNAs in cattle are under way, but their exact function for several tissues has not yet been established. cattle () have inhabited the Korean peninsula for about 6000 years and are one of the representative domesticated animals in Korea. As a result of intensive breeding, the meat of cattle is high in marbling content and is preferred by Koreans and other East Asian people. In this study, the expression of lncRNAs was identified in 36 samples from skeletal muscle and three adipose tissues (intramuscular, subcutaneous, and omental) of nine individuals. We identified 76 tissue-specific lncRNAs for each of the four tissues using the differences in expression levels. Through QTL information, we could identify 12 lncRNAs associated with shear force and six lncRNAs associated with body weight, which are two important traits in the population breeding strategy. By the physical position comparison of lncRNA and Bovine transcripts information, we could identify 11 lncRNAs that were in bovine transcripts, and four of the 11 genes related to transcripts of lncRNAs were biologically associated with muscle function. We believe this lncRNAs study will help reveal the lncRNA role in the physiological mechanisms of these four tissues.