Whole-genome sequence-based association analyses on an eight-breed crossed heterogeneous stock of pigs reveal the genetic basis of skeletal muscle fiber characteristics

Yizhong Huang; Liping Cai; Yanyu Duan; Qingjie Zeng; Maozhang He; Zhongping Wu; Xiaoxiao Zou; Mengqing Zhou; Zhou Zhang; Shijun Xiao; Bin Yang; Junwu Ma; Lusheng Huang

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2022.108974

Whole-genome sequence-based association analyses on an eight-breed crossed heterogeneous stock of pigs reveal the genetic basis of skeletal muscle fiber characteristics

Meat Sci. 2022 Dec:194:108974. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2022.108974. Epub 2022 Sep 9.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Swine Genetics, Breeding and Production Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Swine Genetics, Breeding and Production Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China. Electronic address: mjwjxlab@jxau.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory for Swine Genetics, Breeding and Production Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China. Electronic address: lushenghuang@hotmail.com.

PMID: 36167013
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2022.108974

Abstract

Skeletal muscle fiber characteristics (MFCs) have been extensively studied due to their importance to human health and athletic ability, as well as to the quantity and quality of livestock meat production. Hence, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on nine muscle fiber traits by using whole genome sequence data in an eight-breed crossed heterogeneous stock pig population. This GWAS revealed 67 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits. The most significant GWAS signal was detected in the region of Sus scrofa chromosome 12 (SSC12) containing the MYH gene family. Notably, we identified a significant SNP rs322008693 (P = 7.52E-09) as the most likely causal mutation for the total number of muscle fibers (TNMF) QTL on SSC1. The results of EMSA and luciferase assays indicated that the rs322008693 SNP resided in a functional element. These findings provide valuable molecular markers for pig meat production selection as well as for deciphering the genetic mechanisms of the muscle fiber physiology.

Keywords: Candidate genes; GWAS; Muscle fiber characteristics; Pig; QTLs.

MeSH terms

Animals
Genome-Wide Association Study*
Humans
Meat / analysis
Muscle Fibers, Skeletal*
Phenotype
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Quantitative Trait Loci
Sus scrofa / genetics
Swine / genetics