Comparative Transcriptome Profile between Iberian Pig Varieties Provides New Insights into Their Distinct Fat Deposition and Fatty Acids Content

The high deposition of intramuscular fat and the content of oleic fatty acid are characteristic of the Iberian pig. These two parameters present great variability and are differentiated amongst the varieties that make up the Iberian pig population. Although previous studies generated evidence for causal genes and polymorphisms associated to the adipogenic potential of the Iberian pig, there is little information about how genetic expression influences this trait's variability. The aim of this study was to analyses the expression profile between two varieties of Iberian pig (Torbiscal and Retinto) and their reciprocal crosses differentiated in their intramuscular fat (IMF) content and fatty acid (FA) composition in the muscle using an RNA-seq approach. Our results corroborate that the Retinto variety is the fattiest amongst all studied varieties as its upregulated genes, such as and , and among others, contribute to increasing adiposity. In its turn, Torbiscal pigs showed an upregulation of genes associated with the inhibition of fat deposition such as and . Further genetic variation analysis in these Iberian varieties showed relevant associations for SNP located within the differentially expressed genes with IMF and FA content. Thus, the differences found in the genetic architecture and the muscle transcriptome of these Iberian varieties might explain the variability in their fat content and composition and hence, their meat quality.