Summary
This systematic review examines the molecular mechanisms governing meat quality by synthesising studies employing integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches. The authors argue that combined omics methodologies transcend limitations of single-technique investigations, providing a hierarchical understanding of how gene expression cascades through metabolic regulation to determine phenotypic meat quality traits including muscle fibre characteristics, glycolytic progression, lipid deposition, and organoleptic properties. The review systematically addresses how breed genetics, nutritional interventions, environmental conditions, and stress responses modulate these molecular regulatory networks.
Regional applicability
UK livestock producers and breeding programmes may benefit from applying transcriptomic-metabolomic frameworks to enhance meat quality traits and consumer appeal, particularly if integrated with UK-specific breeding objectives and production systems. However, the review's generalisability to UK temperate pasture-based or mixed systems depends on whether the underlying studies represent comparable production contexts.
Key measures
Transcriptional regulatory networks, metabolic pathways, muscle fibre type differentiation, postmortem glycolytic progression, intramuscular fat deposition, flavour compound accumulation, signal transduction mechanisms, protein degradation dynamics
Outcomes reported
This systematic review synthesises recent advances in understanding meat quality regulation through integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses, examining how genetic variation, nutrition, rearing environment, and stress responses modulate meat quality attributes.
Topic tags
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