Muscle transcriptome profiles highlight biomarkers of pig production system and high meat quality
Résumé
Muscle biological characteristics strongly influence the economic value and the eating quality of pork. However, the muscle properties underlying high sensory and technological meat quality (MQ) remain unclear. The local Basque breed exhibiting high sensory quality of pork could thus be a relevant model to study MQ development. Therefore, the Longissimus muscle (LM) transcriptome and MQ of Basque pigs reared in various production systems themselves influencing MQ (conventional, C; alternative, A; extensive, E; n=10/system) were determined. E pigs had higher ultimate pH and darker meat, less drip loss but higher shear force than A or C pigs. However, meat tenderness and juiciness did not differ according to production system. LM transcriptome differences between systems highlighted up regulation of genes involved in control of muscle structure and thermal response in the E pigs compared with A and C pigs. Besides, associations between microarray expression and pork traits revealed numerous potential biomarkers of MQ. Using quantitative RT-PCR, 90 transcripttrait correlations were confirmed (P<0.05, |r|≤0.74), among which 27 were validated (P<0.05, |r|≤0.73) on complementary experimental data (n=30).
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