• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2005

Leptin, the product of the obesity (ob) gene, is synthesized in adipocytes or fat cells and has been implicated in the regulation of food intake, energy balance and body composition in mammals. Therefore, the leptin gene could be a candidate gene controlling fat deposition, meat quality and carcass traits in cattle. In this study the microsatellite genotypes for leptin gene were determined and their effects on carcass traits and meat quality were estimated in Korean cattle. Six different microsatellite alleles within leptin gene were identified and gene frequencies of 173, 177, 184, 186, 190 and 192 bp alleles were 0.012, 0.308, 0.067, 0.260, 0.342 and 0.016, respectively. The microsatellite marker of the leptin gene showed a significant association with the carcass percentage (CP) and marbling score (MS). Animals with genotypes 192/192 and 177/184 had higher CP than animals with other genotypes. Animals with genotypes 184/192 and 177/184 had higher MS compared with animals with other genotypes. Thus, the results suggest that the 177, 184 and 192 bp alleles may be associated with increased carcass percentage and intramuscular fat levels. No associations were found between the microsatellite genotypes of the leptin gene and other carcass traits such as carcass weight (CW), backfat thickness (BF) and M. longissimus dorsi area (LDA). In conclusion, the microsatellite markers of the leptin gene may be useful for marker-assisted selection of carcass traits and meat quality in Korean cattle.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.679-691
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• 2023

The fat deposition is an important factor affecting chicken meat quality, which is closely related to lipid metabolism of chickens. Therefore, it is important to regulate the lipid metabolism of chickens to improve the chicken meat quality. Plant extracts have special regulatory effects on animal's growth and health and have been widely used in chicken breeding. Some plant extracts have been reported to have functions of changing the fatty acid composition, reducing abdominal fat percentage, and enhancing the intramuscular fat content of chickens by improving the antioxidant capacity, regulating the expression of genes, enzymes, and signaling pathways related to lipid metabolism, modulating intestinal microbiota, affecting hormones level, and regulating DNA methylation. This paper reviewed the application and mechanism of plant extracts on regulating lipid metabolism of chickens to provide a reference for the further application of plant extracts in chicken breeding.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1812-1819
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• 2007

Heart fatty acid-binding protein gene (H-FABP) is an important candidate gene for meat quality. One of the objectives of this study was to screen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of chicken H-FABP gene among 252 individuals that included 4 Chinese domestic chicken breeds (Fengkai Xinghua (T04), Huiyang Huxu (H), Qingyuan Ma (Q), Guangxi Xiayan (S1)), 2 breeds developed by the Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Lingnan Huang (DC), dwarf chicken (E4)) and one introduced broiler (Abor Acre (AA)). Another objective of this study was to analyze the associations between polymorphisms of the H-FABP gene and fat deposition traits in chickens. PCR-SSCP was used to analyze SNPs in H-FABP and 4 SNPs (T260C, G675A, C783T and G2778A) were detected. Associations between polymorphic loci and intramuscular fat (IMF), abdominal fat weight (AFW) and abdominal fat percentage (AFP) were analyzed by ANCOVA method. The results showed that the T260C genotypes were significantly associated with IMF (p = 0.0233) and AFP (p = 0.0001); the G675A genotypes were significantly associated with AFW, AFP (p<0.01) and IMF (p<0.05); at the C783T locus, AFW and AFP differed highly between genotypes. However, the G2778A loci did not show any significant effect on fat deposition traits in this study. In addition, we found that there were some differences between AFP and definite haplotypes through a nonparametric statistical method, so the haplotypes based on the SNPs except G2778A loci were also significantly associated with IMF, AFW (g) (p<0.05) and AFP (%) (p<0.001). Significantly and suggestively dominant effects of H4H4 haplotype were observed for IMF and the H2H3 was dominant for AFW (g) and AFP (%). The results also revealed that H5H7 haplotype had a negative effect on IMF, while the H5H6 had a positive effect on AFW (g) and AFP (%).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.613-620
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• 2012

Marbling from intramuscular fat is an important trait of meat quality and has an economic benefit for the beef industry. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) fine mapping was performed to identify the marbling trait in 266 Hanwoo steers using a 10K single nucleotide polymorphism panel with the combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium method. As a result, we found nine putative QTL regions for marbling: three on BTA6, two on BTA17, two on BTA22, and two on BTA29. We detected candidate genes for marbling within 1 cM of either side of the putative QTL regions. Additionally, to understand the functions of these candidate genes at the molecular level, we conducted a functional categorization using gene ontology and pathway analyses for those genes involved in lipid metabolism or fat deposition. In these putative QTL regions, we found 95 candidate genes for marbling. Using these candidate genes, we found five genes that had a direct interaction with the candidate genes. We also found SCARB1 as a putative candidate gene for marbling that involves fat deposition related to cholesterol transport.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2015

Fatness qualities in pigs measured by the amount of fat deposition and composition of fatty acids (FAs) in pork have considerable effect on current breeding goals. The stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) gene plays a crucial role in the conversion of saturated FAs into monounsaturated FAs (MUFAs), and hence, is among the candidate genes responsible for pig fatness traits. Here, we identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, $c.^*2041T$ >C) in the 3' untranslated region by direct sequencing focused on coding and regulatory regions of porcine SCD. According to the association analysis using a hundred of Berkshire pigs, the SNP was significantly associated with FA composition (MUFAs and polyunsaturated FAs [PUFAs]), polyunsaturated to saturated (P:S) FA ratio, n-6:n-3 FA ratio, and extent of fat deposition such as intramuscular fat and marbling (p<0.05). In addition, the SNP showed a significant effect on the SCD mRNA expression levels (p = 0.041). Based on our results, we suggest that the SCD $c.^*2041T$ >C SNP plays a role in the gene regulation and affects the fatness qualities in Berkshire pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1246-1254
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• 2004

Two separate trials were designed to determine effects of dietary level of whole flaxseed (WFS) on fatty acid composition of serum, and subcutaneous, perirenal, intermuscular, and intramuscular adipose tissues of Korean Hanwoo cattle. Twentyone bulls (trial 1) and 15 cows (trial 2) were assigned to diets containing 0, 10 or 15% WFS. Relative treatment effects were similar between bulls and cows. The proportion of C18:3 in serum and to a lesser extent in adipose tissues were increased by dietary inclusion of WFS, reflecting supplemented lipid composition of WFS that escaped ruminal biohydrogenation. Animals fed WFS had a lower proportion of saturated fatty acids in serum and adipose tissues than animals fed diets without WFS, while the opposite trend was observed in unsaturated fatty acids with little differences between two WFS groups. WFS-fed animals had higher proportions of C18:1, 18:2, 18:3, 20:3, and 22:3 and lower proportions of C12:0, 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0 in intramuscular fat than animals fed diets without WFS. Furthermore, feeding WFS increased proportions of both $\omega$-3 and $\omega$-6 fatty acids but decreased the ratio of $\omega$-6/$\omega$-3 substantially. In conclusion, feeding WFS can be an effective method of increasing absorption of unsaturated fatty acids, and subsequent deposition in adipose tissues.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1493-1498
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• 2014

Epigenetic factors, such as DNA methylation status, may regulate adipogenesis and lipogenesis, thus affecting intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition in longissimus dorsi muscle (LM) of beef cattle. In Korean cattle steers, the LM consists mainly of muscle tissue. However, the LM tissue also contains IMF. We compared the gene expression levels between the IMF and muscle portions of the LM after tissue separation. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the mRNA levels of both adipogenic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma isoform 1 (PPARG1) and lipogenic fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) were higher (p<0.01) in the IMF than in the muscle portion of the LM. We determined DNA methylation levels of regulatory regions of the PPARG1 and FABP4 genes by pyrosequencing of genomic DNA. DNA methylation levels of two of three CpG sites in the PPARG1 gene promoter region were lower (p<0.05) in the IMF than in the muscle portion of the LM. DNA methylation levels of all five CpG sites from the FABP4 gene promoter region were also lower (p<0.001) in the IMF than in the muscle portion. Thus, mRNA levels of both PPARG1 and FABP4 genes were inversely correlated with DNA methylation levels in regulatory regions of CpG sites of the corresponding gene. Our findings suggest that DNA methylation status regulates tissue-specific expression of adipogenic and lipogenic genes in the IMF and muscle portions of LM tissue in Korean cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.1670-1674
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• 2001

To understand molecular mechanisms that regulate deposition and release of intramuscular fat, a fasting-induced clone was identified by differential screening from cDNA library of adipose tissues of Korean cattle. The clone had a total length of 1,319 nucleotides coding for 334 amino acids. It was identified as one encoding L-lactate dehydrogenase H chain (LDH-B). Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of bovine LDH-B with those of pig, human, rat, and mouse showed 98%, 98%, 97%, and 96% identity, respectively. Food deprivation for 48 h increased mRNA levels of LDH-B gene in adipose tissues of Korean cattle compared to fed- and 6 h refed- tissues. The expression of obese mRNA was examined for individual adipose tissue from several fat depots. Fasting induced expression of LDH-B gene in subcutaneous adipose tissues, but it did not affect expression levels in abdominal, perirenal and intramuscular tissues. Results demonstrate that induction of LDH-B gene during fasting may represent a metabolic shift from anaerobic state to aerobic predominance in fasted adipose tissues and that its responses to fasting are different among several adipose tissues.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.829-839
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• 2023

Objective: The aim of this study was to clone the mRNA sequence of the Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase long chain (ACADL) gene of goats and explore the effect of ACADL on the differentiation of subcutaneous fat cells on this basis. Methods: We obtained the ACADL gene of goats by cloning and used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect the ACADL expression patterns of different goat tissues and subcutaneous fat cells at different lipid induction stages. In addition, we transfect intramuscular and subcutaneous adipocytes separately by constructing overexpressed ACADL vectors and synthesizing Si-ACADL; finally, we observed the changes in oil red stained cell levels under the microscope, and qPCR detected changes in mRNA levels. Results: The results showed goat ACADL gene expressed in sebum fat. During adipocyte differentiation, ACADL gradually increased from 0 to 24 h of culture, and decreased. Overexpression of ACADL promoted differentiation of subcutaneous adipocytes in goat and inhibited their differentiation after interference. Conclusion: So, we infer ACADL may have an important role in positive regulating the differentiation process in goat subcutaneous adipocytes. This study will provide basic data for further study of the role of ACADL in goat subcutaneous adipocyte differentiation and lays the foundation for final elucidating of its molecular mechanisms in regulating subcutaneous fat deposition in goats.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.8.1-8.8
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• 2015

Background: The demand for healthy, lean and consistent meat products containing low saturated fatty acid content and high quality polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially long-chain (${\geq}C_{20}$) omega-3 PUFA, has increased in recent times. Fat deposition is altered by both the genetic background and dietary supplements, and this study aimed to assess the effect of dietary Spirulina supplementation levels on the mRNA expression patterns of genes controlling lipid metabolism in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and Longissimus dorsi (ld) muscle of Australian crossbred sheep. Methods: Twenty-four weaned lambs belonging to four breeds under the same management conditions were maintained on ryegrass pasture and fed three levels of Spirulina supplement (control, low and high). In terms of nutrient composition, Spirulina is a nutrient-rich supplement that contains all essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. It also is a rich source of carotenoids and fatty acids, especially gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) that infer health benefits. After slaughter, subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and ld samples were subjected to mRNA extraction and reverse transcription using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to assess the mRNA expression levels of the Aralkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT), Adrenergic beta-3 receptor (ADRB3), B-cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) and Fatty acid synthase (FASN) genes, which are associated with lipid metabolism. Results: Both low and high Spirulina supplementation levels strongly up-regulated the transcription of all the selected genes in both SAT and ld tissues (mostly in the subcutaneous adipose), but sheep breed and sex did not influence the gene expression patterns in these tissues. Conclusions: The evidence indicates that high Spirulina supplementation level resulted in a decrease in intramuscular fat content in Australian purebred and crossbred sheep due to the enhanced production of melatonin in sheep muscle tissues and strong up-regulation of mRNA expression of BTG2 in SAT which negatively affected fat deposition. In contrast, low Spirulina supplementation level strongly up-regulated the ADRB3 and FASN genes responsible for fat production. These findings are consistent with the observed phenotypic data suggesting that low Spirulina supplementation level can increase lamb production, with higher long-chain PUFA content.