Zappaterra Martina, Gioiosa Silvia, Chillemi Giovanni, Zambonelli Paolo, Davoli Roberta
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 46, I-40127 Bologna, Italy.
CINECA SuperComputing Applications and Innovation Department (SCAI), Via dei Tizii 6, I-00185 Roma, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Feb 27;11(3):628. doi: 10.3390/ani11030628.
To date, high-throughput technology such as RNA-sequencing has been successfully applied in livestock sciences to investigate molecular networks involved in complex traits, such as meat quality. Pork quality depends on several organoleptic, technological, and nutritional characteristics, and it is also influenced by the fatty acid (FA) composition of intramuscular fat (IMF). To explore the molecular networks associated with different IMF FA compositions, the muscle (SM) from two groups of Italian Large White (ILW) heavy pigs divergent for SM IMF content was investigated using transcriptome analysis. After alignment and normalization, the obtained gene counts were used to perform the Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA package in R environment). Palmitic and palmitoleic contents showed association with the same gene modules, comprising genes significantly enriched in autophagy, mitochondrial fusion, and mitochondrial activity. Among the key genes related to these FAs, we found , a gene regulating mitochondrial activity that seems to be a promising candidate for further studies. On the other hand, the genes comprised in the modules associated with the IMF contents of oleic, -6, and -3 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) were significantly enriched in Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling, in agreement with previous studies suggesting that several MAPK players may have a primary role in regulating lipid deposition. These results give an insight into the molecular cascade associated with different IMF FA composition in ILW heavy pigs. Further studies are needed to validate the results and confirm whether some of the identified key genes may be effective candidates for pork quality.
迄今为止，诸如RNA测序之类的高通量技术已成功应用于畜牧科学领域，以研究与肉质等复杂性状相关的分子网络。猪肉品质取决于多种感官、工艺和营养特性，同时也受肌内脂肪（IMF）中脂肪酸（FA）组成的影响。为了探索与不同IMF FA组成相关的分子网络，利用转录组分析对两组意大利大白（ILW）重型猪的背最长肌（SM）进行了研究，这两组猪的SM IMF含量存在差异。经过比对和标准化后，将获得的基因计数用于进行加权相关网络分析（R环境中的WGCNA软件包）。棕榈酸和棕榈油酸含量与相同的基因模块相关，这些基因模块包含在自噬、线粒体融合和线粒体活性方面显著富集的基因。在与这些脂肪酸相关的关键基因中，我们发现了一个调节线粒体活性的基因，它似乎是进一步研究的一个有前景的候选基因。另一方面，与油酸、-6和-3多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）的IMF含量相关的模块中的基因在丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）信号通路中显著富集，这与之前的研究一致，即几个MAPK成员可能在调节脂质沉积中起主要作用。这些结果深入了解了ILW重型猪中与不同IMF FA组成相关的分子级联反应。需要进一步的研究来验证这些结果，并确认一些已鉴定的关键基因是否可能是猪肉品质的有效候选基因。
