Abstract
Domestic yak (Bos grunniens) is the most crucial livestock in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, providing meat and other necessities for local people. The skeletal muscle of adult livestock is composed of muscle fibers, and fiber composition in muscle has influence on meat qualities, such as tenderness, pH, and color. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is a powerful tool to evaluate the gene expression of muscle fiber, but the normalization of the data depends on the stability of expressed reference genes. Unfortunately, there is no consensus for an ideal reference gene for data normalization in muscle tissues of yak. In this study, we aimed to assess the stability of 14 commonly used candidate reference genes by using five algorithms (GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, Delat Ct and Refinder). Our results suggested UXT and PRL13A were the most stable reference genes, while the most commonly used reference gene, GAPDH, was most variably expressed across different muscle tissues. We also found that the extensor digitorum lateralis (EDL), trapezius pars thoracica (TPT), and psoas major (PM) muscle had the higher content of type I muscle fibers and the lowest content of type IIB muscle fibers, while gluteobiceps (GB) muscle had the highest content of type IIB muscle fibers. Our study provides the suitable reference genes for accurate analysis of yak muscle fiber composition.
Highlights
The yak (Bos grunniens) is one of the livestock that can adapt to the harsh environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent Alpine regions, which provides meat, milk, hair, transport and fuel for residents [1]
Candidate reference genes were distributed among different chromosomes that belong to different function classes to minimize the risk of coregulation
The amplification efficiencies of all the primers for the reference genes ranged from 93–109%, with R2 varied between 0.9921 and 1.0000 (Table 1)
Summary
The yak (Bos grunniens) is one of the livestock that can adapt to the harsh environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent Alpine regions, which provides meat, milk, hair, transport and fuel for residents [1]. There are around 14 million yaks in the world, 95% of them are distributed in China [2]. As the consumer demand for high quality meat products continues to increase, there is a growing demand for high quality yak meat in most areas of China. Understanding the characteristics of meat quality is a major priority in yak production.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
