title: Characterization of beef transcripts correlated with tenderness and moisture.
abstract: To identify transcriptional markers for beef traits related to meat tenderness and moisture, we measured the transcriptome of the Longissimus dorsi skeletal muscle in 10 Korean native cattle (KNC). We analyzed the correlation between the beef transcriptome and measurements of four different beef traits, shear force (SF), water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), and loin eye area (LEA). We obtained non-overlapping and unique panels of genes showing strong correlations (|r|>0.8) with SF, WHC, CL, and LEA, respectively. Functional studies of these genes indicated that SF was mainly related to energy metabolism, and LEA to rRNA processing. Interestingly, our data suggested that WHC is influenced by protein metabolism. Overall, the skeletal muscle transcriptome pointed to the importance of energy and protein metabolism in determining meat quality after the aging process. The panels of transcripts for beef traits may be useful for predicting meat tenderness and moisture.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.forename: Eung-Woo
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Cheol-Koo
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008460:Meat; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014867:Water