Association of functional sequence variants of the myosin heavy chain 3 gene with muscle collagen content in pigs

This study examined the association between functional sequence variants (FSVs) of my-osin heavy chain 3 (MYH3) genotypes and collagen content in a Landrace and Jeju native pig (JNP) crossbred population. Four muscles (Musculus longissimus dorsi, Musculus semi-membranosus, Musculus triceps brachii, and Musculus biceps femoris) were used for the analysis of meat collagen content, and the same animals were genotyped for the FSVs of the MYH3 gene by using PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length poly-morphism). Three FSVs of MYH3 genotypes were identified and had genotype frequencies of 0.358, 0.551, and 0.091 for QQ, Qq, and qq, respectively. QQ animals for the FSVs of the MYH3 genotypes showed higher collagen content in their M. longissimus dorsi (p < 0.001), M. semimembranosus (p < 0.001), M. triceps brachii (p < 0.001), and M. biceps femoris (p < 0.001) than qq homozygous animals. After the validation of this result in other independent populations, the FSVs of MYH3 genotypes can be a valuable genetic marker for improving collagen content in porcine muscles and can also be applied to increase the amount of colla-gen for biomedical purposes.

Automated summary

This study explored the relationship between functional sequence variants (FSVs) of the MYH3 gene and collagen content in a crossbred pig population. The PCR-RFLP method was used to genotype the FSVs, and four muscles were analyzed for collagen content. The results revealed that QQ animals had higher collagen content than qq homozygous animals in all four muscles. FSVs of the MYH3 gene could be a valuable genetic marker for improving collagen content in porcine muscles and for biomedical applications after further validation in other populations.