Qiao Yu, Yang Deming, Tang Jishun, Zhang Wei, Chen Sheng, Hui Wenqiao
Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Product Safety Engineering, Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, China.
Qinghai Yangsen Agricultural and Livestock Ecological Co., Ltd., Gonghe, China.
Front Nutr. 2025 Jul 16;12:1620180. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1620180. eCollection 2025.
To improve meat yield and nutritional quality of Tibetan sheep of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Australian White and Small-tailed Han rams were introduced to crossbred with Tibetan sheep (Oura-type, O) ewes which possessed genetic homogeneity. The aim of this study was to compare growth conformation, meat quality, and further identified related candidate genes between Tibetan sheep and their three-way crossbreds (25% Australian White × 25% Small-tailed Han × 50% Oura-type Tibetan, AHO).
Fifteen 5.5-month-old male lambs (8 O and 7 AHO crossbred) were raised for 5.5 months. We compared body conformation, carcass traits, meat quality (pH, color, cooking loss), nutrient composition (amino acids, fatty acids, ribonucleotides) in (LTL) muscle, and analyzed differentially expressed genes through transcriptomics.
Our findings indicated that 5.5-month-old AHO lambs exhibited significantly superior body conformation and carcass traits ( < 0.05), including live weight, cannon circumference, carcass weight, and loin eye area. Their LTL muscle contained higher levels of PUFA, n-6 PUFA, and a greater PUFA/SFA ratio along with the content of glutamic acid and methionine ( < 0.05), and an increased trend for inosine monophosphate ( = 0.072) in the AHO lambs than O groups. Transcriptomic analysis identified candidate genes including , , , , and , which are differentially expressed and associated with muscle development and meat flavor.
The study revealed that AHO lambs demonstrated better growth and meat quality, with identified candidate genes for these traits. These findings provide practical strategies for enhancing Tibetan lamb meat quality through crossbreeding optimization in high-altitude regions.
为提高青藏高原藏羊的产肉量和营养品质，引入澳大利亚白公羊和小尾寒羊公羊与具有遗传同质性的欧拉型（O型）藏羊母羊进行杂交。本研究旨在比较藏羊与其三元杂交后代（25%澳大利亚白×25%小尾寒羊×50%欧拉型藏羊，AHO）之间的生长体型、肉质，并进一步鉴定相关候选基因。
选取15只5.5月龄的雄性羔羊（8只O型和7只AHO杂交羊）饲养5.5个月。比较了它们的体型、胴体性状、肉质（pH值、颜色、蒸煮损失）、腰大肌（LTL）中的营养成分（氨基酸、脂肪酸、核糖核苷酸），并通过转录组学分析差异表达基因。
我们的研究结果表明，5.5月龄的AHO羔羊在体型和胴体性状方面表现出显著优势（P<0.05），包括体重、管围、胴体重和眼肌面积。它们的LTL肌肉中多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）、n-6多不饱和脂肪酸含量更高，PUFA/SFA比值更大，同时谷氨酸和蛋氨酸含量也更高（P<0.05），AHO羔羊的肌苷酸含量有增加趋势（P=0.072），高于O型组。转录组分析鉴定出包括[具体基因名称未给出]等差异表达且与肌肉发育和肉味相关的候选基因。
该研究表明AHO羔羊具有更好的生长性能和肉质，并鉴定出了这些性状的候选基因。这些发现为通过高海拔地区杂交育种优化提高藏羊肉品质提供了实用策略。
