RNA Profiles of the Korat Chicken Breast Muscle with Increased Carnosine Content Produced through Dietary Supplementation with β-Alanine or L-Histidine

Abstract

Korat chicken (KRC) is a slow-growing chicken bred in Thailand, whose meat exhibits a unique toughness. A previous study produced KRC breast meat containing high carnosine content through dietary supplementation with β-alanine or L-histidine; however, the KRC that were fed an L-histidine-supplemented diet produced meat that was significantly more tender. Herein, we performed RNA-Seq to identify candidate genes involved in the regulation of carnosine content and meat toughness. Total RNA was isolated from five female KRC breast muscles in each treatment group that KRC fed diets without supplementation, supplemented with β-alanine or L-histidine. Compared to the non-supplemented group, we identified 118 and 198 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the β-alanine or L-histidine supplementation groups, respectively. Genes potentially related to meat tenderness—i.e., those regulating myosin, collagen, intramuscular fat, and calpain—were upregulated (LOC107051274, ACSBG1, and CAPNS2) and downregulated (MYO7B, MYBPH, SERPINH1, and PGAM1). However, carnosine synthase gene was not identified. Functional enrichment analysis identified pathways affected by dietary supplementation, including the insulin signaling pathway (β-alanine supplementation) and the insulin resistance and adipocytokine signaling pathways (L-histidine supplementation). The FoxO signaling pathway was identified as a regulatory network for both supplementation groups. The identified genes can be used as molecular markers of meat tenderness in slow-growing chickens.

Effects of β-alanine and L-histidine supplementation on carnosine contents in and quality and secondary structure of proteins in slow-growing Korat chicken meat

“… Katemala et al (2021) reported that the β-sheet relative content positively correlated with the shear force of KRC, and the result was confirmed by Beattie et al (2004) . Moreover, Kubota et al (2021) found that the upregulated genes LOC107051274, ACSBG1 , and CAPNS2 and downregulated genes MYO7B, MYBPH, SERPINH1 , and PGAM1 may be related to meat tenderness in Korat chicken. However, it is still unclear how these genes change the protein secondary structure in this study.…”

“…The 4 experimental diets, all of which were formulated based on the National Research Council nutrient recommendations (1994), were as follows: basal diet (A), basal diet supplemented with 1.0% β-alanine (B), 0.5% L-histidine (C), and 1.0% β-alanine combined with 0.5% L-histidine (D). The ingredient and nutrient compositions of the experimental diet for growers (22–42 days) and finishers (43–70 days) are shown in Table 1 , some of which have already been published by Kubota et al (2021) .…”

Mining of chicken muscle growth genes and the function of important candidate gene RPL3L in muscle development

“…Studies have pointed out that white streaks and lignified chicken breasts in broiler breasts may be related to LDHA , but no causal relationship has been established ( Malila et al, 2019 ). Phosphoglycerate mutase 1 ( PGAM1 ) may be a potential molecular marker of chicken tenderness, and its expression is positively correlated with broiler breast muscle shear stress ( Kubota et al, 2021 ). Fructose bisphosphatase 2 ( FBP2 ) can promote fetal birth weight, and is positively correlated with the development of middle and late skeletal muscle in sheep ( Xu et al, 2014 ).…”

The Interaction between Feed Bioactive Compounds and Chicken Genome

“…The PEPT1 gene is a member of the POT family of membrane transporters that uses the proton electrochemical gradient to drive the uptake of di-and tripeptides across cell membranes [90], and is therefore capable of transporting both L-histidine and carnosine in skeletal muscle [14]. Kubota et al (2021) [91] analyzed the RNA profile of Korat chicken supplemented with β-alanine and L-histidine, which resulted in a very tender breast muscle. The authors noted increased expression of genes involved in the regulation of myosin, intramuscular fat and calpain (LOC107051274, ACSBG1, and CAPNS2) and decreased expression of myosin VIIB (MYO7B), myosin binding protein H (MYBPH), inhibitor of serpin peptidase H (SERPINH1) and phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) genes.…”