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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #383401
Research Project: Enhancing Genetic Merit of Ruminants Through Improved Genome Assembly, Annotation, and Selection

Location: Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory

Title: Comparative transcriptomics analysis reveals differential expression regulation underlying fatty acid composition in multiple beef cuts

Author
item ZHANG, TIANLIU - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item WANG, TIANZHEN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item NIU, QUNHAO - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item ZHENG, XU - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LI, HAIPENG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item GAO, XUE - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item CHEN, YAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item GAO, HUIJIANG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item Liu, Ge - George
item ZHANG, LUPEI - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LI, JUNYA - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item XU, LINGYANG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: Foods
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/27/2021
Publication Date: 1/4/2022
Citation: Zhang, T., Wang, T., Niu, Q., Zheng, X., Li, H., Gao, X., Chen, Y., Gao, H., Liu, G., Zhang, L., Li, J., Xu, L. 2022. Comparative transcriptomics analysis reveals differential expression regulation underlying fatty acid composition in multiple beef cuts. Foods. 11(1):117. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11010117.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11010117

Interpretive Summary: Gene expression analyses will benefit our understanding of genetic bases for meat quality. We conducted a gene expression analysis and identified 38 candidate genes in 5 beef cuts with different fatty acid compositions. These results fill our knowledge gaps and will benefit livestock genetic improvement. Farmers, scientist, and policy planners who need improve animal health and production based on genome-enabled animal selection will benefit from this study.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to characterize the expression regulatory changes of fatty acid composition using comparative transcriptomics analysis in five representative beef cuts. By comparing transcriptomes of the multiple muscle tissues, we identified 7,545 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among ten pair-wise comparisons. Co-expression network analysis identified two modules, which were significantly correlated with 7 and 26 fatty acid compositions, respectively. We also identified 38 candidate genes, and functional enrichment showed that these genes were involved in fatty acid biosynthetic process and degradation, PPAR, and AMPK signaling pathway. Moreover, we observed a cluster of DEGs (e.g., SCD, LPL, FABP3, and PPARD) which were involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism and adipocyte differentiation. Our results provide valuable insights into understanding the transcriptome regulation of fatty acid metabolism, and may further help to improve the selection for health beneficial fatty acid composition in beef cattle.