title: Monitoring of Chicken RNA Integrity as a Function of Prolonged Postmortem Duration.
abstract: Gene expression profiling has offered new insights into postmortem molecular changes associated with meat quality. To acquire reliable transcript quantification, high quality RNA is required. The objective of this study was to analyze integrity of RNA isolated from chicken skeletal muscle (pectoralis major) and its capability of serving as the template in quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) as a function of postmortem intervals representing the end-points of evisceration, carcass chilling and aging stages in chicken abattoirs. Chicken breast muscle was dissected from the carcasses (n = 6) immediately after evisceration, and one-third of each sample was instantly snap-frozen and labeled as 20 min postmortem. The remaining muscle was stored on ice until the next rounds of sample collection (1.5 h and 6 h postmortem). The delayed postmortem duration did not significantly affect A260/A280 and A260/A230 (p≥0.05), suggesting no altered purity of total RNA. Apart from a slight decrease in the 28s:18s ribosomal RNA ratio in 1.5 h samples (p<0.05), the value was not statistically different between 20 min and 6 h samples (p≥0.05), indicating intact total RNA up to 6 h. Abundance of reference genes encoding beta-actin (ACTB), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT), peptidylprolylisomerase A (PPIA) and TATA box-binding protein (TBP) as well as meat-quality associated genes (insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isozyme 4 (PDK4), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARD) were investigated using qPCR. Transcript abundances of ACTB, GAPDH, HPRT, and PPIA were significantly different among all postmortem time points (p<0.05). Transcript levels of PDK4 and PPARD were significantly reduced in the 6 h samples (p<0.05). The findings suggest an adverse effect of a prolonged postmortem duration on reliability of transcript quantification in chicken skeletal muscle. For the best RNA quality, chicken skeletal muscle should be immediately collected after evisceration or within 20 min postmortem, and rapidly preserved by deep freezing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand.
authors.forename: Yuwares
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Malila
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand.
authors.forename: Yanee
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Srimarut
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand.
authors.forename: Juthawut
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: U-Chupaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Gale
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Strasburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand.
authors.forename: Wonnop
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Visessanguan
keywords: Gallus gallus; Gene Expression; Postmortem Duration; RNA Integrity; Skeletal Muscle