| Summary |
Genetic analysis of gene expression level is a promising approach for characterizing candidate genes that are involved in complex economic traits such as meat quality. In the present study, we conducted expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and allele-specific expression (ASE) analyses based on RNA-sequencing (RNAseq) data from the longissimus muscle of 189 Duroc × Luchuan crossed pigs in order to identify some candidate genes for meat quality traits. Using a genome-wide association study based on a fixed linear model, we identified 7,192 cis-eQTL corresponding to 2,098 cis-genes (p ≤ 1.33e-3, FDR ≤ 0.05) and 6,400 trans-eQTL corresponding to 863 trans-genes (p ≤ 1.13e-6, FDR ≤ 0.05). ASE analysis using RNAseq SNPs identified 9,815 significant ASE-SNPs in 2,253 unique genes. Integrative analysis between the cis-eQTL and ASE target genes identified 540 common genes, including 33 genes with expression levels that were correlated with at least one meat quality trait. Among these 540 common genes, 63 have been reported previously as candidate genes for meat quality traits, such as PHKG1 (q-value = 1.67e-6 for the leading SNP in the cis-eQTL analysis), NUDT7 (q-value = 5.67e-13), FADS2 (q-value = 8.44e-5), and DGAT2 (q-value = 1.24e-3).This study provides valuable information on the genetics of gene expression in porcine skeletal muscle. The characterized cis-genes and ASE genes, combined with the correlations between gene expression level and meat quality traits will be useful to prioritize candidate genes in further studies.
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