RESUMO
It is desirable to produce beef with high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), as this is related to fat softness and palatability. However, the physiology of MUFA synthesis in bovine fat during the fattening process remains to be established. In this study, in order to elucidate the relationship between plasma components and the fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat, we investigated the effect of plasma obtained from fattening cattle on the messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions of the adipogenesis-related gene in a clonal bovine intramuscular preadipocyte line (BIP cells). The mRNA expressions of stearoyl-CoA desaturase, adipocyte Protein 2, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 in BIP cells were significantly higher following treatment with those plasma samples collected from the cattle with the highest diaphragmatic unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids ratio (US/S). Furthermore, the concentration of nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) in the plasma samples had an inverse correlation with carcass diaphragmatic US/S. These results indicate that cattle with a low ratio of US/S in fat may be discriminated from the population of fattening cattle before slaughter by measuring the effect of their plasma on gene expression in BIP cells as well as their plasma concentration and composition of NEFA.
