Impact of Genetic and Feeding Effects on Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of Pigs

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Pigs".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 6542

Special Issue Editors

Department of Veterinary Medicine, School of Sciences and Technology and CHRC-Comprehensive Health Research Centre, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal
Interests: breeding management; genetic improvement; native farm breeds; critical thinking development in health sciences
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia, 32900 Orense, Spain
Interests: meat quality; genetic influences in meat quality; genetic improvement
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Departamento de Ciências Veterinárias, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: food quality and food safety; sanitary inspection; meat quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Meat quality is affected by multiple factors, both intrinsic to the animal or resulting from environmental or production-related effects. The animal genetics affect the growth rate, fat deposition and muscle mass. As modulated by management decisions, those effects are combined to determine the age at slaughter and the carcass’ composition. In addition, feeding has a great impact on some meat physicochemical parameters (chemical composition, texture, color, etc.), nutritional value and sensory properties of meat, therefore impacting the quality of the final product.

For the last few decades, the genetic influences on pork meat and carcass’ quality have drawn the attention of the scientific community, its study driving to the use of potential genetic markers in pig selection schemes and breeding programs. Particularly in non-industrial production systems, studies have been carried out on alternative feeding strategies to enhance meat quality and carcass traits, endorsing the economy of farms and meeting consumers’ expectations.

Lastly, but not with minor importance, meat quality conditions may also influence the shelf life and its safety characteristics. Meat quality is a composite concept that may be subject to biased opinions, by consumers, retailers, or industry.

This Special Issue intends to focus on the genetic effects on the carcass’ traits and the technological and sensory quality of meat in pigs.

Prof. Dr. Rita Payan-Carreira
Prof. Dr. Jose Manuel Lorenzo Rodriguez
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Esteves
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • meat quality traits
  • carcass composition
  • genetic markers
  • genetic analysis
  • genetic mapping
  • quantitative trait loci
  • breed comparison
  • heritability
  • feeding effects

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5496 KiB  
Article
Copy Number Variations Contribute to Intramuscular Fat Content Differences by Affecting the Expression of PELP1 Alternative Splices in Pigs
by Xia Wei, Ze Shu, Ligang Wang, Tian Zhang, Longchao Zhang, Xinhua Hou, Hua Yan and Lixian Wang
Animals 2022, 12(11), 1382; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12111382 - 27 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1704
Abstract
Intramuscular fat (IMF) is a key meat quality trait. Research on the genetic mechanisms of IMF decomposition is valuable for both pork quality improvement and the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Copy number variations (CNVs) are a type of variant that [...] Read more.
Intramuscular fat (IMF) is a key meat quality trait. Research on the genetic mechanisms of IMF decomposition is valuable for both pork quality improvement and the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Copy number variations (CNVs) are a type of variant that may influence meat quality. In this study, a total of 1185 CNV regions (CNVRs) including 393 duplicated CNVRs, 432 deleted CNVRs, and 361 CNVRs with both duplicated and deleted status were identified in a pig F2 resource population using next-generation sequencing data. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was then performed between CNVs and IMF, and a total of 19 CNVRs were found to be significantly associated with IMF. QTL colocation analysis indicated that 3 of the 19 CNVRs overlapped with known QTLs. RNA-seq and qPCR validation results indicated that CNV150, which is located on the 3′UTR end of the proline, as well as glutamate and the leucine rich protein 1 (PELP1) gene may affect the expression of PELP1 alternative splices. Sequence alignment and Alphafold2 structure prediction results indicated that the two alternative splices of PELP1 have a 23 AA sequence variation and a helix-fold structure variation. This region is located in the region of interaction between PELP1 and other proteins which have been reported to be significantly associated with fat deposition or insulin resistance. We infer that the CNVR may influence IMF content by regulating the alternative splicing of the PELP1 gene and ultimately affects the structure of the PELP1 protein. In conclusion, we found some CNVRs, especially CNV150, located in PELP1 that affect IMF. These findings suggest a novel mechanistic approach for meat quality improvement in animals and the potential treatment of insulin resistance in human beings. Full article
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9 pages, 1599 KiB  
Communication
Differences in Fatty Acid Profile and Physical-Chemical Composition of Slavonska slanina—Dry Cured Smoked Bacon Produced from Black Slavonian Pig and Modern Pigs
by Katarina Latin, Krešimir Mastanjević, Nikola Raguž, Mateja Bulaić, Ras Lužaić, Marija Heffer and Boris Lukić
Animals 2022, 12(7), 924; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12070924 - 04 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1784
Abstract
The objective of this study was to compare the psysico-chemical composition and fatty acid (FFA) profile of traditional dry cured bacon Slavonska slanina, produced from the authentic Black Slavonian Pig (BP) and modern pigs (MP), using traditional homemade principles. The samples of [...] Read more.
The objective of this study was to compare the psysico-chemical composition and fatty acid (FFA) profile of traditional dry cured bacon Slavonska slanina, produced from the authentic Black Slavonian Pig (BP) and modern pigs (MP), using traditional homemade principles. The samples of Slavonska slanina produced from BP had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher fat content (78.32%) than the samples produced from MP (46.47%), while the samples produced from MP showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) protein and moisture content. The samples produced from BP also showed lower aw and salt content but higher pH. Determination of fatty acid composition was performed at the end of the production process. The composition of fatty acids with respect to the groups of saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids was determined, as well as the ratios n-6/n-3 and PUFA/SFA. The results of fatty acid composition determination of Slavonska slanina produced from BP and MP show that oleic acid (C18: 1n9) is the most dominant fatty acid from the MUFA group (47.02 and 46.25%), the most common SFA acid was palmitic acid (C16: 0) (23.44 and 24.96%), and PUFA linoleic acid (C18: 2n-6c) (10.76 and 9.74%). The genotype had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the SFA and USFA composition of Slavonska slanina. The ratios PUFA/SFA (0.34–0.28) and n-6/n-3 (31.84–27.34) for samples of Slavonska slanina produced from BP and MP are in concordance with previously published data for different dry cured meat products, and do not comply with the nutritionally recommended values of international health organizations (PUFA/SFA > 0.4 and n-6/n-3 < 4). Full article
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20 pages, 3597 KiB  
Article
Systematic Identification and Comparison of the Expressed Profiles of lncRNAs, miRNAs, circRNAs, and mRNAs with Associated Co-Expression Networks in Pigs with Low and High Intramuscular Fat
by Feng Cheng, Jing Liang, Liyu Yang, Ganqiu Lan, Lixian Wang and Ligang Wang
Animals 2021, 11(11), 3212; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113212 - 10 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1989
Abstract
Intramuscular fat (IMF) content is a complex trait that affects meat quality and determines pork quality. In order to explore the potential mechanisms that affect the intramuscular fat content of pigs, a Large white × Min pigs F2 resource populations were constructed, then [...] Read more.
Intramuscular fat (IMF) content is a complex trait that affects meat quality and determines pork quality. In order to explore the potential mechanisms that affect the intramuscular fat content of pigs, a Large white × Min pigs F2 resource populations were constructed, then whole-transcriptome profile analysis was carried out for five low-IMF and five high-IMF F2 individuals. In total, 218 messenger RNA (mRNAs), 213 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), 18 microRNAs (miRNAs), and 59 circular RNAs (circRNAs) were found to be differentially expressed in the longissimus dorsi muscle. Gene ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes annotations revealed that these differentially expressed (DE) genes or potential target genes (PTGs) of DE regulatory RNAs (lncRNAs, miRNAs, and circRNAs) are mainly involved in cell differentiation, fatty acid synthesis, system development, muscle fiber development, and regulating lipid metabolism. In total, 274 PTGs were found to be differentially expressed between low- and high-IMF pigs, which indicated that some DE regulatory RNAs may contribute to the deposition/metabolism of IMF by regulating their PTGs. In addition, we analyzed the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) of DE RNAs co-located in high- and low-IMF groups. A total of 97 DE regulatory RNAs could be found located in the QTLs related to IMF. Co-expression networks among different types of RNA and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory networks were also constructed, and some genes involved in type I diabetes mellitus were found to play an important role in the complex molecular process of intramuscular fat deposition. This study identified and analyzed some differential RNAs, regulatory RNAs, and PTGs related to IMF, and provided new insights into the study of IMF formation at the level of the genome-wide landscape. Full article
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