Integrated comparative transcriptome and circRNA-lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA regulatory network analyses identify molecular mechanisms associated with intramuscular fat content in beef cattle

Vahid Dehghanian Reyhan, Farzad Ghafouri, Mostafa Sadeghi*, Seyed Reza Miraei-Ashtiani, John P. Kastelic, Herman W. Barkema , Masoud Shirali*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
25 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Intramuscular fat content (IMF), one of the most important carcass traits in beef cattle, is controlled by complex regulatory factors. At present, molecular mechanisms involved in regulating IMF and fat metabolism in beef cattle are not well understood. Our objective was to integrate comparative transcriptomic and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network analyses to identify candidate messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and regulatory RNAs involved in molecular regulation of longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) tissue for IMF and fat metabolism of 5 beef cattle breeds (Angus, Chinese Simmental, Luxi, Nanyang, and Shandong Black). In total, 34 circRNAs, 57 lncRNAs, 15 miRNAs, and 374 mRNAs were identified by integrating gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. Furthermore, 7 key subnets with 16 circRNAs, 43 lncRNAs, 7 miRNAs, and 237 mRNAs were detected through clustering analyses, whereas GO enrichment analysis of identified RNAs revealed 48, 13, and 28 significantly enriched GO terms related to IMF in biological process, molecular function, and cellular component categories, respectively. The main metabolic-signaling pathways associated with IMF and fat metabolism that were enriched included metabolic, calcium, cGMP-PKG, thyroid hormone, and oxytocin signaling pathways. Moreover, MCU, CYB5R1, and BAG3 genes were common among the 10 comparative groups defined as important candidate marker genes for fat metabolism in beef cattle. Contributions of transcriptome profiles from various beef breeds and a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network underlying phenotypic differences in IMF provided novel insights into molecular mechanisms associated with meat quality.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2598
Number of pages22
JournalAnimals
Volume13
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Aug 2023

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