A spatial topology atlas of type I myofibers in porcine skeletal muscle reveals local slow-oxidative niches associated with meat quality traits

Summary

This study presents a multiscale spatial phenotyping framework for characterising type I myofibres in porcine skeletal muscle across multiple breeds and muscle sites, using improved Mask R-CNN segmentation of succinate dehydrogenase-stained samples. The authors demonstrate that myofibre spatial topology organisation—the local clustering and connectivity patterns of slow-oxidative fibres—is an independent phenotypic layer separable from fibre abundance alone, and that these spatial features correlate with and improve prediction of meat quality parameters including pH, colour, and intramuscular fat content. The findings suggest that skeletal muscle physiology and meat quality are better understood when modelled as spatially organised tissue systems rather than as simple mixtures of fibre types.

Regional applicability

The study uses porcine models and established methodology applicable to pig production systems globally, including the United Kingdom's intensive pig sector. The breed-specific and muscle-site-specific remodelling of fibre spatial topology suggests that findings may inform selective breeding programmes and production practices to optimise meat quality in UK pig farming.

Key measures

Type I myofibre spatial topology metrics (morphology, staining, local contact, clustering architecture, diffusion-ring neighbourhoods, tissue configuration); slow-oxidative gene expression domains via spatial transcriptomics; meat quality traits (pH, colour, conductivity, intramuscular fat)

Outcomes reported

The study established a spatial phenotyping framework for type I myofibres in porcine skeletal muscle and demonstrated that spatial topology features—independent of myofibre abundance—improved prediction of meat quality traits including pH, colour, conductivity, and intramuscular fat content.

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