Detection of Co-expressed Pathway Modules Associated With Mineral Concentration and Meat Quality in Nelore Cattle.

Wellison J S Diniz,Priscila S N De Oliveira,Ludwig Geistlinger,Polyana C Tizioto,Francesca Bertolini,Juliana Afonso,Luciana C A Regitano,Haja N Kadarmideen,Gianluca Mazzoni,Priyanka Banerjee,Aline S M Cesar,Luiz L Coutinho

doi:10.3389/fgene.2019.00210

Abstract

Meat quality is a complex trait that is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, which includes mineral concentration. However, the association between mineral concentration and meat quality, and the specific molecular pathways underlying this association, are not well explored. We therefore analyzed gene expression as measured with RNA-seq in Longissimus thoracis muscle of 194 Nelore steers for association with three meat quality traits (intramuscular fat, meat pH, and tenderness) and the concentration of 13 minerals (Ca, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Se, and Zn). We identified seven sets of co-expressed genes (modules) associated with at least two traits, which indicates that common pathways influence these traits. From pathway analysis of module hub genes, we further found an over-representation for energy and protein metabolism (AMPK and mTOR signaling pathways) in addition to muscle growth, and protein turnover pathways. Among the identified hub genes FASN, ELOV5, and PDE3B are involved with lipid metabolism and were affected by previously identified eQTLs associated to fat deposition. The reported hub genes and over-represented pathways provide evidence of interplay among gene expression, mineral concentration, and meat quality traits. Future studies investigating the effect of different levels of mineral supplementation in the gene expression and meat quality traits could help us to elucidate the regulatory mechanism by which the genes/pathways are affected.

Highlights

Meat is an important source of nutrients in the human diet
From coexpressed modules and pathway analysis, we thereby identified several hub genes significantly associated with meat quality traits and mineral concentration
We identified positive correlation among intramuscular fat content (IMF) with some minerals (Ca = 0.25, Cu = 0.23, Mn = 0.24, K = 0.17, Na = 0.3, S = 0.18, and Zn = 0.23) (p ≤ 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Meat is an important source of nutrients in the human diet. Meat quality traits such as intramuscular fat content (IMF), mineral concentration, and fatty acid profile influence consumer purchase decision (Ahlberg et al, 2014; Mateescu, 2014) and human health (Pighin et al, 2016). Despite being well adapted to tropical climate, Nelore cattle has typically less tender and marble meat when compared with European breeds due to several genetic and environmental factors (Cesar et al, 2015; Tizioto et al, 2015). Growing evidence suggested interplay among gene expression, mineral concentration, and meat quality traits, which are still unclear

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Discussion

Conclusion