Qiong Wu

Adipose tissue is a crucial economically significant trait that significantly influences the meat quality and growth performance of domestic animals. To reveal the changes in adipose tissue metabolism during the growth of naturally grazing sheep, we evaluated the thickness, adipocyte morphology, fatty acid profile, and metabolite profile of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) from naturally grazing Sunit sheep at 6, 18, and 30 months of age (referred to as Mth-6, Mth-18, and Mth-30, respectively). The fat thickness and adipocyte number were significantly increased with the growth of the sheep (p < 0.05), and the increase of which from Mth-18 to Mth-30 was less than that from Mth-6 to Mth-18. Additionally, the alpha-linolenic acid metabolism was enhanced and fatty acid (FA) elongation increased with growth. The metabolomic analysis revealed 76 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in the SAT in different growth stages. Interestingly, we observed elongation of FAs in lipids correlated with sheep growth. Furthermore, the expression of acylcarnitines was downregulated, and fatty acid amides, aspartic acid, acetic acid and phosphocholine were upregulated in Mth-18 and Mth-30 compared to Mth-6. Altogether, the study found that the difference in SAT in Mth-6 was great compared to Mth-18 and Mth-30. An increase in fat deposition via adipocyte proliferation with the growth of the sheep in naturally grazing. The DEMs of acylcarnitines, fatty acid amides, aspartic acid, acetic acid, and phosphocholine emerged as potential key regulators of adipose tissue metabolism. These findings illustrate the variation in and metabolic mechanism of sheep adipose tissue development under natural grazing, thus providing valuable insights into improving the edible quality of sheep meat and developing the mutton sheep industry.

Intramuscular connective tissue (IMCT) collagen is an important factor in meat quality. This study analyzed the characteristics of type I and III collagen in the IMCT of the semitendinosus (SD) and longissimus dorsi (LD) of Wuzhumuqin sheep at different growth stages (6, 9, 12, and 18 months). Utilizing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), collagen types I and III were successfully isolated and shown to contain an intact triple helix structure. Immunofluorescence revealed that these collagens were located in the endomysium and perimysium. Collagen-related genes were significantly expressed in sheep aged 9 and 12 months. The amino acid content increased with age in type I collagen whereas it decreased in type III collagen. Furthermore, type III collagen contained more hydroxyproline (Hyd) than type I collagen. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed that the thermal stability of collagen increased with age, accompanied by a decrease in solubility. Semitendinosus muscle had more collagen cross-linkages than LD muscle due to the high pyridinoline (Pyr) content in the endomysium. Finally, a correlation analysis highlighted the multiple correlations between characteristics in different types of collagen during sheep growth. In summary, the collagen characteristics in the IMCT of sheep were impacted by collagen type, muscle type, and age. Furthermore, the various correlations between these characteristics may play an important role in the development of IMCT.