Expression data from porcine red and white muscle

In meat animal production, favourable meat traits such as color and, in the pig in particular, tenderness have been found to closely associate with the greater abundance of red or highly oxidative fibres. Red muscles possess higher lipid concentration (intra- and inter-fibre fat) which is associated with more tender and juicy meat. In addition, individuals with muscles that are abundant in oxidative type I fibres are associated with favourable metabolic health, and are less likely to predispose to obesity and insulin resistance. Collectively, understanding the molecular processes that govern the expression of specific fiber types and the phenotypic characteristics of muscles is important in agricultural and medical fields.

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