Application of gene expression studies in livestock production systems: a European perspective

Abstract

Abstract. In the context of sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, understanding animal physiology remains a major challenge in the breeding and production of livestock, especially to develop animal farming systems that respond to the new and diversified consumer demand. Physiological processes depend on the expression of many genes acting in concert. Considerable effort has been expended in recent years on examining the mechanisms controlling gene expression and their regulation by biological and external factors (e.g. genetic determinants, nutritional factors, and animal management). Two main strategies have been developed to identify important genes. The first one has focussed on the expression of candidate genes for key physiological pathways at the level of both the transcripts and proteins. An original strategy has emerged with the advent of genomics that addresses the same issues through the examination of the molecular signatures of all genes and proteins using high-throughput techniques (e.g. transcriptomics and proteomics). In this review, the application of the gene expression studies in livestock production systems is discussed. Some practical examples of genomics applied to livestock production systems (e.g. to optimise animal nutrition, meat quality or animal management) are presented, and their outcomes are considered. In the future, integration of the knowledge gained from these studies will finally result in optimising livestock production systems through detection of desirable animals and their integration into accurate breeding programs or innovative management systems.

Variations in the abundance of 24 protein biomarkers of beef tenderness according to muscle and animal type

“…The animal effect assessed in this study was the difference between young bulls and steers. These two types of animals are characterised by some differences at the muscular, cellular and proteins levels (Cassar-Malek et al, 2008), which likely explain the animal-type effects found in this study.…”

Opportunities for predicting and manipulating beef quality

“…In fact, genomics is changing our scientific paradigm, because the global expression of genes in cells and tissues generates new biological hypotheses. The net result is a move from hypothesis-driven research (where scientists test the relevance of biological hypotheses) to hypothesis-generated research (in which new biological hypotheses will appear from gene and protein analyses) (Cassar-Malek, Picard, Bernard & Hocquette, 2008). As a first consequence, genomics has a great potential for the discovery of new DNA markers which might be used as low cost and easy-to-use diagnostic tests for the improvement of livestock breeding (reviewed by Hocquette, Renand, Levéziel, Picard & Cassar-Malek, 2006;Hocquette et al, 2007a;Hocquette, Gondret, Baéza, Médale, Jurie & Pethick, 2010).…”

Expression of DNAJA1 in bovine muscles according to developmental age and management factors

“…Thus, it is of interest for rearing or breeding purposes to predict the ability of live animals to produce 'high-quality' meat (Cassar-Malek et al, 2008). In the case of beef, specific attention is paid to tenderness, which is the top priority sensory quality attribute and which depends partly on muscle metabolic properties.…”