Functional Genomic Analysis of Variation on Beef Tenderness Induced by Acute Stress in Angus Cattle

• Published in: Comparative and functional genomics Vol. 2012; no. 2012; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Zhao, Chunping, Tian, Fei, Yu, Ying, Luo, Juan, Mitra, Apratim, Zhan, Fei, Hou, Yali, Liu, George, Zan, Linsen, Updike, M. Scott, Song, Jiuzhou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Puplishing Corporation 01.01.2012; Hindawi Publishing Corporation; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Beef; Cattle; Colleges & universities; CpG islands; DNA methylation; epigenetics; Flavor; Food; Genomic analysis; Immune response; Iron; Meat; Metabolism; Palatability; protein B; Proteins; Repressors; Stress; Vitamins; Zinc; United States > US
• ISSN: 1531-6912; 2314-436X; 1532-6268; 2314-4378
• DOI: 10.1155/2012/756284

Beef is one of the leading sources of protein, B vitamins, iron, and zinc in human food. Beef palatability is based on three general criteria: tenderness, juiciness, and flavor, of which tenderness is thought to be the most important factor. In this study, we found that beef tenderness, measured by the Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), was dramatically increased by acute stress. Microarray analysis and qPCR identified a variety of genes that were differentially expressed. Pathway analysis showed that these genes were involved in immune response and regulation of metabolism process as activators or repressors. Further analysis identified that these changes may be related with CpG methylation of several genes. Therefore, the results from this study provide an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms that genetic and epigenetic regulations control meat quality and beef tenderness.