Effect of histone crotonylation on the quality of MSTN-mutated cattle during post-mortem aging

The MSTN-mutated cattle exhibit an enhancement in meat production while maintaining health. However, the study on meat quality of MSTN-mutated beef is still limited. Herein, we firstly investigated the pH values in different muscle tissues from wild-type (WT) and MSTN mutant-type (MT) Mongolian cattle during post-mortem period and found that all MT beef reached ultimate pH (upH) earlier than WT. Furthermore, shear force, pressing loss, cooking loss, total histone crotonylation level and histone H3 lysine 18 crotonylation (H3K18cr) level were increased in longissimus dorsi, tenderloin, sirloin and brisket muscles of MT cattle. Mechanism studied demonstrated that the expression levels of glycolysis-related genes accompanied by enhanced H3K18cr modification at HK2 promoter were higher in MT muscles compared with that of WT. This finding provides new insights into meat aging process in MSTN-mutated cattle, thereby facilitating the rapid development of the beef industry.