title: Identification of extracellular matrix and cell adhesion molecule genes associated with muscle development in pigs.
abstract: Extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell adhesion molecule (CAM) genes are involved in the regulation of skeletal muscle development; however, their roles in skeletal muscle development in pigs are still poorly understood. 65 days postcopulation (dpc) is a critical time point in pig development. Therefore, we analyzed expression of ECM and CAM genes in the longissimus dorsi muscles at 65 dpc from Landrace (lean-type: L65), Tongcheng (obese-type: T65), and Wuzhishan pigs (miniature-type: W65) using microarray technology. A total of 35 genes were differently expressed between the breeds, and of them, 18, 18, and 20 genes, were observed in the comparisons of L65 versus T65, L65 versus W65, and T65 versus W65 (L65/T65, L65/W65, and T65/W65), respectively. In L65/T65, differently expressed genes were widely distributed, whereas in L65/W65 and T65/W65, they mostly focused on the genes encoding CAMs and ECMs proteins. Moreover, the largest number of up-regulated genes involved in skeletal muscle development was detected in L65, a moderate number in W65, and the smallest number was in T65. Cluster analysis suggested that T65 showed a more similar expression pattern to L65 than W65. In addition, we validated that five genes from microarray data were more highly expressed in the prenatal as compared to postnatal periods in Landrace and Tongcheng pigs and showed a greater range of high-level expression during gestation in Landrace than Tongcheng pigs. Our data indicated that ECM and CAM genes are differently expressed among the three breeds, and more complicated molecular events involving CAMs and ECMs were observed in Wuzhishan pigs. This study advances our knowledge of the molecular basis of phenotypic variation and provides a helpful resource for the identification of candidate genes associated with meat production traits in pigs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene and Cell Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Xishan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Zhonglin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shuanping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ruiqi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Yulian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Kui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics*; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005810:Multigene Family; D024510:Muscle Development; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D013552:Swine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins