Transcriptomal analysis revealed that the metabolism and structure of porcine Longissimus Dorsi muscle were changed by constant heat stress. Sus scrofa

To characterize the changes of mRNAs in skeletal muscle responding to heat stress, the mRNA expression profiles of longissimus dorsi muscles of pigs raised under constant heat stress (30°C, n=8) or control temperature (22 C, n=8) for 21 days were analyzed by Illumina high-throughput sequencing. There were 78 genes differentially expressed, of which 37 were up-regulated and 41 down-regulated by constant heat stress. In summary, 5,247 novel genes and 6,108 novel transcribed units in the skeletal muscle were identified. Furthermore, 30,761 and 31,360 AS events were observed in CON and H30 libraries, respectively. The differentially expressed genes in the muscle were involved in glycolysis, lactate metabolism, lipid metabolism, cellular defense, and stress responses. The expression levels of those genes were associated with the parameters of meat quality, indicating that heat stress affected meat quality by regulating genes associated with nutrition metabolism and muscle development. Overall design: Characterize and compare expression profiling of the mRNA transcriptome in 2 groups of porcine skeletal muscle.