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ABSTRACT In the last decade, other quality attributes have emerged as the main aspects that impact pork consumers acceptance, such as environmentally friendly production, nutritional value, and animal welfare. This study applies a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) questionnaire for sensory characterization of loins from genetically lean immunocastrated male pigs fed diets containing either a standard commercial diet with 1.5 % soybean oil (control) or 3 % oil from either soybean oil (SO), canola oil (CO), or fish oil (FO) during the growing-finishing phases. Twenty CATA attributes for loin samples were generated. We interviewed 101 consumers to select all the CATA terms that they considered suitable to characterize sensory attributes of longissimus lumborum muscle samples of pigs from each dietary treatment. The CATA results indicated differences among pork loin samples depending on the source and inclusion level of dietary oil. Loins from pigs fed 3 % SO were characterized by a higher frequency of the “juicy texture” attribute (p < 0.05) and a lower frequency of the “dry texture” attribute (p < 0.05) compared to loins from 3 % FO-fed pigs. Moreover, loins from pigs fed 3 % SO had a lower citation frequency of the “tasteless” attribute (p < 0.05) compared to loins from 3 % FO-fed pigs. The attributes “cooked pork meat-like taste”, “juicy texture”, “tender texture”, and “brightness” were placed close to the overall liking. “Tender texture”, “juicy texture”, “pork meat-like” (odor and taste), and “cooked pork meat-like taste” attributes were considered drivers of liking. Feeding genetically lean immunocastrated male pigs with diets containing 3 % SO may be advisable from a pork sensory quality perspective.

The aim of this study was to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEG) from the skeletal muscle and liver samples of animal models for metabolic diseases in humans. To perform the study, the fatty acid (FA) profile and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data of 35 samples of liver tissue (SOY1.5, n = 17 and SOY3.0, n = 18) and 36 samples of skeletal muscle (SOY1.5, n = 18 and SOY3.0, n = 18) of Large White pigs were analyzed. The FA profile of the tissues was modified by the diet, mainly those related to monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) FA. The skeletal muscle transcriptome analysis revealed 45 DEG (FDR 10%), and the functional enrichment analysis identified network maps related to inflammation, immune processes, and pathways associated with oxidative stress, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic dysfunction. For the liver tissue, the transcriptome profile analysis revealed 281 DEG, which participate in network maps related to neurodegenerative diseases. With this nutrigenomics study, we verified that different levels of soybean oil in the pig diet, an animal model for metabolic diseases in humans, affected the transcriptome profile of skeletal muscle and liver tissue. These findings may help to better understand the biological mechanisms that can be modulated by the diet.

Abstract: The objective of this work was to sequence the MyoD1, MyoG, MyF5, MyF6, and MSTN genes and to identify polymorphisms in Santa Inês sheep (Ovis aries). A total of 192 lambs with 240 days of age were evaluated, and these genes were sequenced to be compared with the reference sequence in the Ovis aries genome. Genotype and allele frequencies were estimated, and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested. Fragments containing 2,493 bp (MyoD1), 1,836 bp (MyoG), 2,813 bp (MyF5), 1,126 bp (MyF6), and 2,380 bp (MSTN) were obtained, and, in these sequences, 160 variants were identified. These polymorphisms were distributed as follows: 59 (MyoD1), 24 (MyoG), 63 (MyF5), 4 (MyF6), and 10 (MSTN). One hundred and four were novel polymorphisms, 45 in MyoD1, 2 in MyoG, 56 in MyF5, and 1 in MSTN. Regarding site, 61 were in intron (27 in MyoD1, 16 in MyoG, 5 in MyF5, 3 in MyF6, and 10 in MSTN), 87 in coding region (22 in MyoD1, 8 in MyoG, 56 in MyF5, and 1 in MyF6), and 12 on 3’UTR (10 in MyoD1 and 2 in MyF5). Therefore, the MyoD family and MSTN genes have several polymorphisms in Santa Inês sheep, which can be useful for association studies.

ABSTRACT: Growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), and leptin (LEP) can be candidate genes for association studies because they play vital roles in the metabolism process. Thus, this study aimed to identify variants in these genes associated with body traits in Santa Inês sheep. The following were recorded: body weight at 100 (BW100) and 240 days (BW240), average daily gain (ADG), withers (WH) and croup (CH) heights, body length (BL), thoracic (TG) and leg (LG) girths, thoracic (TW) and croup (CW) widths, body depth (BD), rib eye area (REA), fat thickness (FT), and carcass finishing score (CFS). Single-locus association analysis was performed with 11 variants in IGF1, 18 in LEP, and 16 in GH. Moreover, two haplotypes in IGF1 and one haplotype in LEP were evaluated in haplotype association analysis. The single-locus analysis revealed 23 suggestive additive effects (p < 0.05), but no additive effect was found at the Bonferroni threshold. Haplotype association analysis revealed 19 additive effects, of which ten were at the Bonferroni threshold (p < 0.0074). In IGF1 gene, haplotype replacements were associated with ADG 20.51(7.37), CH 4.09(1.21), WH 3.52(1.20), BL 3.94(1.19), TG 3.88(1.30), TW 1.13(0.36), and LG 3.40(1.08); while in the LEP gene the haplotype replacement was associated with BW100 1.83(0.51), BD −2.51(0.56), and CFS −0.24(0.06). Therefore, there are haplotypes in IGF1 and LEP genes associated with body traits in Santa Inês sheep, which can be useful in marker-assisted selection.