Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling Reveals the Mechanisms Underlying Meat Quality in Taihang Yun Cattle

Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling Reveals the Mechanisms Underlying Meat Quality in Taihang Yun Cattle | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling Reveals the Mechanisms Underlying Meat Quality in Taihang Yun Cattle Ning Zhang, Yupeng Zhang, Chenbo Zhou, Sujun Wu, Jing Cheng, Zongrui Zhang, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8747903/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract To assess the meat quality of high-quality beef cattle population Taihang Yun cattle, we compared meat traits in the longissimus dorsi muscle among three breeds: Chinese Simmental cattle (n = 6), Taihang Yun cattle (n = 6), and Charolais cattle (n = 6). The molecular underpinnings were investigated using an integrated multi-omics approach. The results showed that Taihang Yun cattle exhibited significantly higher intramuscular fat content, lower shear force, and a higher content of total unsaturated fatty acids. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed co-enrichment of differentially expressed genes and metabolites in key lipid metabolism pathways, such as PPAR and AMPK signaling. Notably, the expression of key genes, lipoprotein lipase ( LPL ) and fatty acid-binding protein 3 ( FABP3 ), was significantly upregulated. Furthermore, piperidine was identified as a key differential metabolite and inhibited bovine adipocyte differentiation in vitro. Collectively, this work characterizes the superior meat quality of Taihang Yun cattle and reveals candidate molecular mechanisms, providing a scientific basis for its genetic improvement. beef cattle longissimus dorsi muscle lipid metabolism transcriptomics metabolomics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupportingInformationBMC.xlsx SupportInformationWesternBlot.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8747903","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":604749751,"identity":"8e954a90-b2c8-4a08-98f9-5d0f7dbea659","order_by":0,"name":"Ning Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shanxi Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ning","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":604749755,"identity":"90fbd3c0-100a-4537-a222-dd92043739f5","order_by":1,"name":"Yupeng Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shanxi Agricultural 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Cattle","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"beef cattle, longissimus dorsi muscle, lipid metabolism, transcriptomics, metabolomics","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8747903/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8747903/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTo assess the meat quality of high-quality beef cattle population Taihang Yun cattle, we compared meat traits in the longissimus dorsi muscle among three breeds: Chinese Simmental cattle (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6), Taihang Yun cattle (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6), and Charolais cattle (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6). The molecular underpinnings were investigated using an integrated multi-omics approach. The results showed that Taihang Yun cattle exhibited significantly higher intramuscular fat content, lower shear force, and a higher content of total unsaturated fatty acids. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed co-enrichment of differentially expressed genes and metabolites in key lipid metabolism pathways, such as PPAR and AMPK signaling. Notably, the expression of key genes, lipoprotein lipase (\u003cem\u003eLPL\u003c/em\u003e) and fatty acid-binding protein 3 (\u003cem\u003eFABP3\u003c/em\u003e), was significantly upregulated. Furthermore, piperidine was identified as a key differential metabolite and inhibited bovine adipocyte differentiation in vitro. Collectively, this work characterizes the superior meat quality of Taihang Yun cattle and reveals candidate molecular mechanisms, providing a scientific basis for its genetic improvement.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling Reveals the Mechanisms Underlying Meat Quality in Taihang Yun Cattle","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-13 20:51:53","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8747903/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2c89a94a-3b2d-4160-a198-1d9a977135b8","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-25T09:27:54+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-13 20:51:53","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8747903","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8747903","identity":"rs-8747903","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}