Wnt gene expression in adult porcine longissimus dorsi and its association with muscle fiber type, energy metabolism, and meat quality

Abstract

This study investigated the expression profiles of Wnt genes in adult porcine longissimus dorsi (LD) from different porcine genotypes and their associations with meat quality. The results showed that Wnt5a gene expression level was the highest in Jinhua (JHP) pigs, followed by Zhongbai (ZBP), Duroc×Zhongbai (DZB), and Duroc×Yorkshire×Landrace (DYL) pigs, with significant differences between ZBP, DZB, and DYL (P<0.05). This genotypic order was reversed for Wnt7a, Wnt10b, and Wnt11 expression, with JHP and DYL having the lowest and highest expressive levels, respectively. Wnt5a expression was negatively correlated with pH45 min and ΔpH (P<0.01), some glycolytic markers (P<0.05), and positively correlated with meat color (a*), shear force (SF) value (P<0.05), myosion heavy chain (MyHC) I mRNA proportion (P<0.01), turnover ratio of creatine phosphate (CP), and creatine kinase (CK) activity (P<0.05). Opposite correlations were observed for Wnt2, Wnt7a, Wnt10b, and Wnt11. These results revealed that Wnt5a, Wnt7a, Wnt10b, and Wnt11 gene expressions in adult porcine muscle contributed to differences between porcine genotypes and affected pork quality. Wnt5a gene expression could be beneficial for the formation of high quality pork by regulating muscle fiber types and postmortem energy metabolism.

Keywords

• pigs
• meat quality
• Wnt genes
• muscle-fiber type
• energy metabolism