Halplotypes of the ovine ADRB3 gene (ADRB3) and their association with post-weaning growth in New Zealand Suffolk sheep

Selection of candidate genes for differences in fat metabolism between cattle subcutaneous and perirenal adipose tissue based on RNA-seq

The site of fat deposition plays an important role in meat quality and body health. Biologically, the perirenal visceral fat (PF) and back subcutaneous fat (BF) are distinct. Angus and Simmental cattle (Bos taurus) were used as models. HE staining, triglyceride assay kit and RNA-seq were used to analyze the differences in tissue morphology and lipid accumulation, co-genes, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the two tissues. According to the findings, BF has a smaller cell area and greater lipid deposition ability than PF. RNA-seq generated approximately 10.99 Gb of data in each library, and 23,472 genes were identified. The genes FABP4, ADIRF, and SCD that are related to adipose deposition were highly expressed in four tissues. There were 1678 DEGs and 1955 DEGs between BF and PF in Angus and Simmental cattle respectively. Gene Ontology function analysis identified several DEGs involved in metabolism. KEGG pathway analysis showed that four pathways related to fat metabolism were enriched. In the BF, seven genes (COL1A1, COL1A2, COL3A1, COL2A1, RXRA, C1QTNF7, and MOGAT2) were up-regulated. Five genes (ADRB3, ABHD5, CPT1B, CD36, LPIN1) were down-regulated. This study identified candidate genes that led to differences in fat metabolism, which could be useful in cattle breeding.

Polymorphisms in adrenergic receptor genes in Qinchuan cattle show associations with selected carcass traits

The beta-adrenergic receptors coded by the ADRB1, ADRB2 and ADRB3 genes play important roles in mediating metabolic effects, especially lipolysis, insulin resistance and energy balance. This study investigated the expression levels of these three genes in different tissues of Qinchuan cattle by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Expressed levels of RNA from the ADRB2 gene were generally much higher than for ADRB1 and ADRB3. ADRB1 and ADRB2 expression levels were highest in subcutaneous fat and lower in muscle, whereas ADRB3 expression was higher in muscle tissue. Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were discovered in 503 Qinchuan cattle by DNA sequencing, containing three missense mutations (g.1148G>C in ADRB1, g.1293C>T and g.1311T>C in ADRB2), four synonymous mutations (g.1054T>C, g.1122C>T and g.1143G>T in ADRB1 and g.506A>G in ADRB3), as well as one mutation in 3'untranslated region (3'UTR) (g.2799G>A in ADRB3). Interestingly, five of them were located in regions predicted to contain multiple repeats of CG nucleotides (CpG islands). Association analysis showed relationships between most of those SNPs or combined haplotypes and carcass traits of Qinchuan cattle. This study association analysis suggests that polymorphisms in these genes might be useful for selection in beef cattle breeding.