Associations between muscle gene expression pattern and technological and sensory meat traits highlight new biomarkers for pork quality assessment

Meat quality (MQ) results from complex phenomenon and despite improved knowledge on MQ development, its variability remains high. The identification of biomarkers and the further development of rapid tests would thus be helpful to evaluate MQ in pork industries. Using transcriptomics, the present study aimed at identifying biomarkers of eight pork quality traits: ultimate pH, drip loss, lightness, redness, hue angle, intramuscular fat, shear force and tenderness, based on an experimental design inducing a high variability in MQ. Associations between microarray gene expression and pork traits (n = 50 pigs) highlighted numerous potential biomarkers of MQ. Using quantitative RT-PCR, 113 transcript-trait correlations including 40 of these genes were confirmed (P < 0.05, |r| ≤ 0.73), out of which 60 were validated (P < 0.05, |r| ≤ 0.68) on complementary experimental data (n = 50). Multiple regression models including 3 to 5 genes explained up to 59% of MQ trait variability. Moreover, functional analysis of correlated-trait genes provided information on the biological phenomena underlying MQ.

► Muscle microarray analysis reveals numerous transcripts associated to pork quality ► Internal validation highlights 26 genes associated to at least one quality trait ► Pork quality depends on calcium, lipid metabolism and muscle structure pathways