Exploring variances in meat quality between Qingyuan partridge chicken and Cobb broiler: Insights from combined multi-omics analysis

Xin Yang; Bolin Cai; Zhaofeng Zhang; Yu Mo; Zhen Zhou; Ruiquan Wu; Shaofen Kong; Danfeng Cai; Ruitong Zhang; Zhenhui Li; Qinghua Nie

doi:10.1016/j.psj.2024.104666

Exploring variances in meat quality between Qingyuan partridge chicken and Cobb broiler: Insights from combined multi-omics analysis

Poult Sci. 2024 Dec 12;104(2):104666. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.104666. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xin Yang¹, Bolin Cai¹, Zhaofeng Zhang¹, Yu Mo¹, Zhen Zhou¹, Ruiquan Wu¹, Shaofen Kong¹, Danfeng Cai¹, Ruitong Zhang², Zhenhui Li¹, Qinghua Nie³

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangzhou, PR China.
² State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, PR China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: nqinghua@scau.edu.cn.

PMID: 39721276
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.104666

Abstract

Previously, animal breeding prioritized enhancing key economic traits to improve production efficiency, leading to a gradual difference in meat quality. However, the genetic factors influencing meat quality remain unclear. To identify key genetic pathways contributing to meat quality, native Chinese yellow-feathered chicken (Qingyuan Partridge Chicken, QPC; female, n=10), and commercial chicken broiler (Cobb broiler, CB; female, n=10) were used for meat quality assessment through metabolomics, proteomics, and phosphoproteomics sequencing. The results show that QPC had lower pH (93.12%), shear force (81.46%), cooking loss (69.29%), moisture content (93.24%) and muscle fiber area (46.04%), but higher meat color values (a*(163.65%) and b*(250.27%)), drip loss (146.32%), and intramuscular fat content (382.01%) than CB (p < 0.05). Metabolomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analyses were jointly conducted, revealing significant differences in energy metabolism strategies. Higher glycolytic enzyme activity was observed in QPC (ENO1, GAPDH, GPI, PFKM, PKM, and TPI1, p < 0.05), while more energetic phosphate compounds were stored in CB. CB had higher Na⁺/K⁺ Pump protein abundance (SCN4A, LOC107051305, ATP1B4, ATP12A, ATP1A1, and ATP1A2, p < 0.05) and phosphorylation (ATP1A2-Ser662, p < 0.05) and Ca²⁺ channel protein abundance (ATP2B4, SRL, CACNB1, CACNA1S, CACNA2D1, CAMK2G, LOC107050717 and TNNC2, p < 0.05) than QPC. In QPC, CAMKII autophosphorylation activated downstream protein and increased Ca²⁺. These results suggest CB is more contractile than QPC, contributing to meat quality between CB and QPC.

Keywords: Commercial broiler; Meat quality; Multi-omics analysis; Qingyuan partridge chicken.