Distinct Expression Patterns of Genes Associated with Muscle Growth and Adipose Deposition in Tibetan Pigs: A Possible Adaptive Mechanism for High Altitude Conditions

Abstract Zhu, Li, Mingzhou Li, Xuewei Li, Surong Shuai, Haifeng Liu, Jinyong Wang, Anan Jiang, Yiren Gu, Kai Zhang, Xiaokun Teng, and Zhongrong Jiang. Distinct expression patterns of genes associated with muscle growth and adipose deposition in Tibetan pigs: a possible adaptive mechanism for high altitude conditions. High Alt. Med. Biol. 10:45–55, 2009.—To investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying high altitude adaptations in Tibetan pigs, changes in the expression of 140 genes associated with muscle growth and adipose deposition in the longissimus dorsi muscle were studied at various growth stages in Tibetan, Landrace, and Meishan pigs using microarray analysis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences in the expression of 13 genes (p < 0.05) and highly significant differences in the expression of 15 genes (p < 0.01) among the three pig breeds at 2 months. Differences in the expression of 7 genes were significant (p < 0.05) and differences in the expression of 10 genes were very ...