College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Aug 22;25(16):9089. doi: 10.3390/ijms25169089.
With the continuous improvement in living standards, people's demand for high-quality meat is increasing. Ningxiang pig has delicious meat of high nutritional value, and is loved by consumers. However, its slow growth and low meat yield seriously restrict its efficient utilization. Gene expression is the internal driving force of life activities, so in order to fundamentally improve its growth rate, it is key to explore the molecular mechanism of skeletal muscle development in Ningxiang pigs. In this paper, Ningxiang boars were selected in four growth stages (30 days: weaning period, 90 days: nursing period, 150 days: early fattening period, and 210 days: late fattening period), and the (LD) muscle was taken from three boars in each stage. The fatty acid content, amino acid content, muscle fiber diameter density and type of LD were detected by gas chromatography, acidolysis, hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining and immunofluorescence (IF) staining. After transcription sequencing, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) combined with the phenotype of the LD was used to explore the key genes and signaling pathways affecting muscle development. The results showed that 10 modules were identified by WGCNA, including 5 modules related to muscle development stage, module characteristics of muscle fiber density, 5 modules characteristic of muscle fiber diameter, and a module characteristic of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2n6C). Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis found that 52 transcripts relating to muscle development were enriched in these modules, including 44 known genes and 8 novel genes. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis showed that these genes were enriched in the auxin, estrogen and cyclic guanosine monophosphate-protein kinase G (cGMP-PKG) pathways. Twelve of these genes were transcription factors, there were interactions among 20 genes, and the interactions among 11 proteins in human, pig and mouse were stable. To sum up, through the integrated analysis of phenotype and transcriptome, this paper analyzed the key genes and possible regulatory networks of skeletal muscle development in Ningxiang pigs at various stages, to provide a reference for the in-depth study of skeletal muscle development.
随着生活水平的不断提高，人们对高质量肉类的需求不断增加。宁乡猪具有肉质鲜美、营养价值高的特点，深受消费者喜爱。然而，其生长缓慢、出肉率低等问题严重限制了其高效利用。基因表达是生命活动的内在动力，因此，要从根本上提高其生长速度，关键在于探索宁乡猪骨骼肌发育的分子机制。本研究选取宁乡公猪在四个生长阶段（30 日龄：断奶期，90 日龄：哺乳期，150 日龄：早期育肥期，210 日龄：后期育肥期），每个阶段取三头猪的背最长肌（LD），通过气相色谱、酸解、苏木精-伊红（HE）染色和免疫荧光（IF）染色检测脂肪酸含量、氨基酸含量、肌纤维直径密度和类型。转录测序后，采用加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA）结合 LD 表型，探索影响肌肉发育的关键基因和信号通路。结果表明，WGCNA 共鉴定出 10 个模块，包括与肌肉发育阶段相关的 5 个模块、肌纤维密度特征模块、肌纤维直径特征模块 5 个模块、棕榈油酸（C16:1）和亚油酸（C18:2n6C）特征模块。GO 富集分析发现，这些模块中富集了 52 个与肌肉发育相关的转录本，包括 44 个已知基因和 8 个新基因。KEGG 富集分析表明，这些基因富集在生长素、雌激素和环鸟苷酸-蛋白激酶 G（cGMP-PKG）通路中。其中 12 个基因为转录因子，20 个基因之间存在相互作用，人和猪、鼠之间的 11 个蛋白相互作用稳定。综上所述，本研究通过表型和转录组的综合分析，分析了宁乡猪各阶段骨骼肌发育的关键基因及可能的调控网络，为深入研究骨骼肌发育提供了参考。
