Metabolomics Analysis Provides Novel Insights into the Difference in Meat Quality between Different Pig Breeds

Abstract

The Chuanzang black (CB) pig is a new crossbred between Chinese local breeds and modern breeds. Here, we investigated the growth performance, plasma indexes, carcass traits, and meat quality characteristics of conventional DLY (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) crossbreed and CB pigs. The LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics of pork from DLY and CB pigs, as well as the relationship between the changes in the metabolic spectrum and meat quality, were analyzed. In this study, CB pigs presented lower final body weight, average daily gain, carcass weight, and eye muscle area than DLY pigs (p ˂ 0.05). Conversely, the ratio of feed to gain, marbling score, and meat color score of longissimus dorsi (LD) were higher in CB than DLY pigs (p ˂ 0.05). Moreover, psoas major (PM) showed a higher meat color score and a lower cooking loss in CB than DLY pigs (p ˂ 0.05). Interestingly, CB pigs showed lower myofiber diameter and area but higher myofiber density than DLY pigs (p ˂ 0.05). Furthermore, the mRNA expression levels of MyHC I, PPARδ, MEF2C, NFATC1, and AMPKα1 were higher in CB than DLY pigs (p ˂ 0.05). Importantly, a total of 753 metabolites were detected in the two tissues (e.g., psoas major and longissimus dorsi) of CB and DLY pigs, of which the difference in metabolite profiles in psoas major between crossbreeds was greater than that in longissimus dorsi. Specifically, palmitic acid, stearic acid, L-aspartic acid, corticosterone, and tetrahydrocorticosterone were the most relevant metabolites of psoas major meat quality, and tetrahydrocorticosterone, L-Palmitoylcarnitine, arachidic acid, erucic acid, and 13Z,16Z-docosadienoic acid in longissimus dorsi meat were positively correlated with meat quality. The most significantly enriched KEGG pathways in psoas major and longissimus dorsi pork were galactose metabolism and purine metabolism, respectively. These results not only indicated improved meat quality in CB pigs as compared to DLY pigs but may also assist in rational target selection for nutritional intervention or genetic breeding in the swine industry.

Integrating metabolomics and transcriptomics to analyze the differences of breast muscle quality and flavor formation between Daweishan mini chicken and broiler

“…In addition, alpha-linolenic acid was found to improve chicken flavor ( Ge et al, 2023 ). L-palmitoylcarnitine was shown to be positively correlated with meat quality ( Liu et al, 2023a ). In summary, the above metabolites may play important roles in lipid metabolism, quality and flavor regulation of chicken breast muscle.…”

Integrated analyses of the intestinal microbiome and transcriptome in NingXiang piglets

“…Recent years, a variety of indigenous pig breeds have attracted researchers' attentions, due to their dominant function in diseaseresistance and high digestibility of dietary bers. Chinese indigenous breeds, such as Chuanzang black pig, Tibetan pig, Liang-Shan pig, and Laiwu pig have been reported to exhibit improved environmental adaptability as compared to DLY pig (Ramayo-Caldas et al, 2012;Hua et al, 2014;Li et al, 2023;Liu et al, 2023). Therefore, it is of great importance to dissect their potential mechanisms in disease resistance and dietary functions.…”

Integrated analyses of the intestinal microbiome and transcriptome in NingXiang piglets

“…However, the DLY piglets are also susceptible to environmental stress or infections, leading to the increased diarrheal incidence and economic loss. Recent years, a variety of Chinese indigenous pig breeds have attracted researchers' attentions, due to their predominant characteristics in stress-resistance and high digestibility of dietary fibers, such as Chuanzang black pig, Tibetan pig, Liang-Shan pig, NingXiang pig and Laiwu pig (Ramayo-Caldas et al, 2012;Hua et al, 2014;Li et al, 2023;Liu et al, 2023).…”