Expression of Gene and Its Associations With Intramuscular Fat Content and Breast Muscle Fiber Characteristics in Domestic Pigeons ().

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) catalyzes the final step in triglyceride synthesis and plays an important role in the synthesis of fat, but the effects of its expression on intramuscular fat (IMF) content and muscle development are still unknown. In this study, we investigated the expression of the gene and its associations with IMF content and breast muscle fiber characteristics in pigeons. The spatiotemporal expression profile of the pigeon gene in breast muscle showed that the mRNA expression level of gene in subcutaneous fat was the highest ( < 0.01) among eight tissues from 0 to 4 weeks of age, and showed an upward trend week by week, followed by liver ( < 0.05). Moreover, both mRNA and protein levels of the gene in breast muscle showed an upward trend from 0 to 4 weeks ( < 0.05), accompanied by the upregulation of and . In addition, the paraffin section analysis results revealed that the diameter and cross-sectional area of pectoralis muscle fiber significantly increased with age ( < 0.05), and a significant positive correlation was shown between the gene expression level and muscle fiber diameter ( < 0.05). Furthermore, correlation analysis suggested that the mRNA expression level of the pigeon gene was significantly ( < 0.01) correlated with IMF content in breast muscle. These results imply that the gene has a close relationship with IMF content and breast muscle fiber characteristics in pigeons, indicating that the DGAT2 gene might be used as a candidate gene marker-assisted breeding in pigeons.