Academic Journal of Agriculture & Life Sciences, 2024, 5(1); doi: 10.25236/AJALS.2024.050110.
Yunna Liu1, Rong Hu2, Zhongxin Yan2,3,4, Haiyue Wu2, Qing Lin1
1College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
2Qinghai Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining, China
3Qinghai Engineering Research Center of Yak, Xining, China
4Key Laboratory of Plateau Grazing Animal Nutrition and Feed Science of Qinghai Province, Xining, China
Yak meat is extremely rich in protein, amino acids, and trace elements such as calcium and phosphorus. Due to its low-fat content, high calories, and good nutritional value, yak meat is a preferred choice for consumers. However, different cuts of yak meat vary in taste and nutritional properties. This study examined the gene expression profiles and related major signaling pathways that differ across three cuts of Qinghai yak meat: the lateral spine cut (12/13th rib to the last lumbar vertebra region), shoulder cut (front shoulder blade and upper part of front legs) and cucumber strip cut (posterior femur and lateral ischium). The yak meat samples from the three cut sites were collected from the same breed of adult yaks to extract total RNA and subsequently prepare the corresponding cDNA libraries. These libraries were used for transcriptome analysis using Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology. In total, 28.84 Gb of sequencing data was obtained including 152,227,776 pairs of two-end reads. The Gene Ontology functional annotation of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among the meat samples from three different cuts of yak meat revealed significant differences mainly related to the functions of cytokines, protein transport, and metabolic enzymes. Furthermore, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis indicated that DEGs were enriched in ribosomes, oxidative phosphorylation, MAPK, and nitrogen metabolism pathways. Particularly, the role of genes including Ndufa3, Ndufa12, Cox513, COX2, COX5B, CA14, CA3, and CA7 that participate in regulating yak meat quality and flavor material metabolism were highlighted. These screened genes may be responsible for the variation in flavor and quality of 3 different cuts of yak meat. Our results help annotate the yak meat genome and can be used to improve yak meat quality.
yak meat, transcriptome, high-throughput sequencing, differential genes, biological analysis
Yunna Liu, Rong Hu, Zhongxin Yan, Haiyue Wu, Qing Lin. Key Differentially Expressed Genes in Qinghai Yak Meat: A Comparative Transcriptome Study. Academic Journal of Agriculture & Life Sciences (2024) Vol. 5 Issue 1: 63-76. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJALS.2024.050110.
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