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. 2022 Mar 1;10(5):1494-1509.
doi: 10.1002/fsn3.2768. eCollection 2022 May.

Effects of physical exercise on muscle metabolism and meat quality characteristics of Mongolian sheep

Min Zhang  1 , Yueying Guo  1 , Rina Su  2 , Mirco Corazzin  3 , Jiale Li  1 , Huan Huang  1 , Yue Zhang  1 , Duo Yao  1 , Lin Su  1 , Lihua Zhao  1 , Ye Jin  1
Affiliations

Effects of physical exercise on muscle metabolism and meat quality characteristics of Mongolian sheep

Min Zhang et al. Food Sci Nutr. .

Erratum in

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise training on muscle metabolism, fatty acid composition, carcass traits, and meat quality characteristics of Mongolian sheep. Fourteen Mongolian sheep were randomly divided into two groups (7 sheep in each) and placed in two adjacent livestock pens. One group of sheep was kept in the pen (Control [C] group) and the other group of sheep (Training [T] group) were driven away in a field to walk twice a day. The results showed a reduction in pH measured 45 min post mortem, L*, a*, and b* value, intramuscular fat, and carcass length, and an increase in the ultimate pH value and shear force in the meat of T group in comparison with that of C group (p < .050). Also, exercise training moderately affected the fatty acid composition of LT muscle. Compared with C group, the concentrations of myristoleic acid (C14:1) and stearic acid (C18:0) were increased (p < .050), while the concentrations of C20:3 n-6, neurolic acid (C24:1), and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) were decreased in T group (p < .050). Transcriptome analysis highlighted 621 genes differentially expressed in two groups, including 385 were up-regulated (e.g., GLUT4 and PGC-1α) and 236 were down-regulated (e.g., PLIN1 and ACSL3) in T with respect to C group. Besides, considering these genes, a number of enrichment pathways related to muscle metabolic processes, involving carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, oxidation reduction process, and muscle tissue development, were highlighted. In conclusion, these results contributed to a better understanding of the possible biological and molecular processes underlying the effects of exercise training on muscle metabolism and meat quality in Mongolian sheep, and provide useful information for contributing to understand the phenotypic and functional differences in meat quality of sheep.

Keywords: meat quality; mongolian sheep; muscle metabolism; physical exercise.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors state that there is no conflict of interest and financial, personal, or other relations with others or organizations.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in longissimus thoracis (LT) m. between the control group and the training group. Red dots (up) represent the 385 significantly up‐regulated genes (|log2FoldChange| ≥ 1; p < .050), and green dots (down) represent the 286 significantly down‐regulated genes (|log2FoldChange| ≥ 1; p < .050) in training group. Black dots (nosig) represent insignificantly differential expressed genes
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The top enriched (Adj p ≤ .060) biological process terms in Gene ontology (GO) analysis of DEGs (up‐regulated) between the control and training groups
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
KEGG Pathway analysis of DEGs between the control group and the training group. (a)The significant enriched (p ___ 0.050) KEGG pathways for up‐regulated DEGs. (b)The significant enriched (p___ 0.050) KEGG pathways for down‐regulated DEGs
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
DEGs enriched in KEGG pathways related to the metabolic process. The genes are linked to their assigned terms via colored ribbons. Chords represent a detailed relationship between the expression levels of up‐regulated DEGs (left semicircle perimeter) and their enriched KEGG pathways (right semicircle perimeter)
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Validation of twelve differentially expressed genes by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT‐PCR). 18S was used as an internal control, and data are presented as log2 Fold Change (n = 3 per group)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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