Pale, soft, exudative turkey--The role of ryanodine receptor variation in meat quality

The poultry industry has made significant advances in growth rate, feed efficiency, and breast muscle yield through intensive breeding of turkeys. However, a meat quality problem known as pale, soft, exudative (PSE) meat presents the industry with a major challenge during periods of stress, such as the onset of a prolonged heat wave. The biochemical characteristics of PSE turkey are strikingly similar to those of PSE pork. Abnormally rapid postmortem metabolism, stimulated in part by high concentrations of calcium ions, may be one of the underlying factors associated with the incidence of PSE turkey. This presentation summarizes our studies on the avian ryanodine receptors and suggests that heat stress may alter the expression pattern of splice variants of ryanodine receptors, which, in turn, could affect postmortem calcium homeostasis.