Effect of Expressions and SNPs of Candidate Genes on Intramuscular Fat Content in Qinchuan Cattle.

Yaxing Li,Gong Cheng,Takahisa Yamada,Bin Tong,Linsen Zan,Jianfeng Liu

doi:10.3390/ani10081370

Abstract

Simple SummaryIntramuscular fat (IMF), which characterizes the marbling, is a key meat quality trait in the beef industry. In this study, we validated the effect of the expression levels and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of AKIRIN2, TTN, EDG1, and MYBPC1 genes on IMF content in Chinese Qinchuan cattle. The results showed that the expression levels of these genes could affect the IMF content, and the SNP in EGD1 could affect the IMF content in Qinchuan. The information of this study may be applied to effective marker-assisted selection, to increase the levels of marbling in Qinchuan beef production.Marbling is characterized by the amount and distribution of intramuscular fat (IMF). The AKIRIN2, TTN, EDG1, and MYBPC1 genes are well-known marbling-related genes, which were first identified in Japanese Black beef cattle. The objectives of this study were to analyze the correlation of the expression levels of these genes in the longissimus muscle (LM) with IMF content, and the associations between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes and IMF content in Chinese Qinchuan cattle (n = 350). The association analyses showed that the g.42041062G>T SNP in the EDG1 gene was significantly associated with IMF content in Qinchuan (p < 0.05). Further, the expressions of the EDG1 and MYBPC1 were up-regulated (p < 0.05) in LM of Qinchuan cattle group with low IMF content. Down-regulations of the AKIRIN2 and TTN genes (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively) were observed in the Qinchuan cattle group with high IMF content. These results suggest possible effects of the expression levels of selected genes on IMF content in the LM, and the g.42041062G>T SNP in the EDG1 gene might be useful as a molecular marker for IMF content in Qinchuan.

Highlights

Marbling is defined by the amount and distribution of intramuscular fat (IMF) in skeletal muscles, which improves the acceptability, palatability, and tenderness of the meat [1,2,3]
We first showed that the expression levels of the akirin 2 (AKIRIN2), TTN, EDG1, and
myosin binding protein C1 (MYBPC1) genes were associated with IMF content in Qinchuan and the T allele of the g.1471620G>T

Summary

Introduction

Marbling is defined by the amount and distribution of intramuscular fat (IMF) in skeletal muscles, which improves the acceptability, palatability, and tenderness of the meat [1,2,3]. With the rapid development of the economy in China, the consumers’ demands for high quality beef are growing. It is necessary to focus on important candidate functional genes and find more effective molecular markers to increase the IMF in Chinese native cattle. Qinchuan cattle, which is one of the five most well-known native yellow cattle breeds in China, have naturally good beef quality. The Qinchuan breed exhibits lower marbling than Japanese Black beef (JB) cattle, which could be due to lack of selection for marbling. Better knowledge of the molecular architecture of IMF content in Chinese native cattle may lead to economic benefits to the beef industry

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