Effects of long-term feeding of rapeseed meal on skeletal muscle transcriptome, production efficiency and meat quality traits in Norwegian Landrace growing-finishing pigs

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of 20% rapeseed meal (RSM) as an alternative to soybean meal (SBM) in a three-month feeding experiment with growing finishing pigs. Dietary alteration affected growth performance, several carcass traits and transcriptional responses in the skeletal muscle, but did not affect measured meat quality traits. In general, pigs fed the RSM test diet exhibited reduced growth performance compared to pigs on SBM control diet. Significant transcriptional changes in the skeletal muscle of growing pigs fed RSM diet were likely the consequence of an increased amount of fiber and higher polyunsaturated fatty acids, and presence of bioactive phytochemicals, such as glucosinolates. RNAseq pipeline using Tophat2-Cuffdiff identified 57 upregulated and 63 downregulated genes in RSM compared to SBM pigs. Significantly enriched among downregulated pathways was p53–mediated signalling involved in cellular proliferation, while activation of negative growth regulators ( IER5 , KLF10 , BTG2 , KLF11 , RETREG1 , PRUNE2 ) in RSM fed pigs provided further evidence for reduced proliferation and increased cellular death, in accordance with the observed reduction in performance traits. Upregulation of well-known metabolic controllers ( PDK4 , UCP3 , ESRRG and ESRRB ), involved in energy homeostasis (glucose and lipid metabolism, and mitochondrial function), suggested less available energy and nutrients in RSM pigs. Furthermore, several genes supported more pronounced proteolysis ( ABTB1 , OTUD1 , PADI2 , SPP1 ) and reduced protein synthesis ( THBS1 , HSF4 , AP1S2 ) in RSM muscle tissue. In parallel, higher levels of NR4A3 , PDK4 and FGF21 , and a drop in adropin , ELOVL6 and CIDEC/FSP27 indicated increased lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation, reflective of lower dressing percentage. Finally, pigs exposed to RSM showed greater expression level of genes responsive to oxidative stress, indicated by upregulation of GPX1 , GPX2 , and TXNI P.

Integrated Omics analysis of pig muscle metabolism under the effects of dietary Chlorella vulgaris and exogenous enzymes

“…The study by Skugor et al . 39 supports our premise. These authors tested the effects of long-term feeding of rapeseed meal on skeletal muscle transcriptome, production efficiency and meat quality traits in growing-finishing pigs.…”

Glucosinolates From Cruciferous Vegetables and Their Potential Role in Chronic Disease: Investigating the Preclinical and Clinical Evidence

“…When considering the role of glucosinolates for musculoskeletal health, sulforaphane has been studied most extensively in animal models. Historically, the understanding of the effects of glucosinolates on skeletal muscle comes from trials of their application in animal production settings, with results indicating that although growth performance may be affected, muscle had an improved antioxidant status and fatty acid profile ( Drażbo et al, 2019 ; Skugor et al, 2019 ). When sulforaphane was provided to male Wistar rats for 3 days prior to performing exhaustive exercise, sulforaphane served as an indirect antioxidant in skeletal muscle, as measured by decreased tissue total antioxidant capacity in the vastus lateralis muscle.…”

Screening candidate genes related to psoas muscle traits in Debao and Landrace pigs based on transcriptome analysis

“…At present, many related researches on pigs are aimed at improving the meat quality and taste of pigs. Skugor, A et al [5] studied the effect of long-term feeding rapeseed powder on pig meat quality and shape, and many studies improved pig breeds to improve pig meat quality [6][7][8][9]. In recent years, many studies are based on RNA sequencing technology and differential expression analysis [10][11][12][13].…”