Analysis of DNA Methylome Profiles in Cattle with Divergent Tenderness

Beef constitutes one of the main food sources worldwide due to its high quality protein and other nutrients. Beef tenderness is one of the most important factors influencing the edible quality. To date, a large number of molecular studies have focused on the exploration of mechanisms to form beef tenderness. DNA methylation is the most studied epigenetic modification and research revealed that DNA methylation plays important roles in diverse process. However, the genome-wide DNA methylation regulation on beef quality and tenderness remains unknown. In this study, we reported the DNA methylome profiling related to divergent tenderness of beef. We found that more reads are harbored in the intron, exon and repeat elements of genes of beef. We identified the DMRs between tender and tough beef. And results showed that DNA methylation levels in different part of genome or divergent tenderness are significantly differed. Then we annotated the DMRs and identified the top pathways DMRs are involved in. Meanwhile, we also explored the relationship between DNA methylation and gene expression. This study describes the detail DNA methylome profiling related with beef quality and may provide new strategies for exploring the mechanism of beef quality. Whole genome MBD-seq for Angus cattle to explore the differential methylation between tender and tough beefs.