What is claimed to be the “world’s most robust set of beef tenderness biomarkers and major molecular signatures of beef tenderness” has been published, according to Teagasc.
The set of biomarkers and signatures arises from research led by Dr. Mohammed Gagaoua, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Career-FIT fellow, at the Food Quality and Sensory Science department at Teagasc, Ashtown.
Many large omics datasets, especially proteomics, have been generated in the quest to identify molecular signatures for meat tenderness which in turn will lead to the development of a management system for guaranteed beef tenderness, the agricultural authority claims.
An integromics approach is one which integrates and interrogates large and complex datasets. Employing an integromics approach, Dr. Gagaoua’s publication is the first of its kind and has provided clarity on the most consistently and robustly identified biomarkers of beef tenderness, Teagasc says.
It gathers data from 28 independent proteomics-based experiments from which a list of 124 biomarkers were initially identified.
From these, the authors shortlisted a panel of 33 candidates “worthy of evaluation” using targeted or untargeted data-independent acquisition proteomic methods to develop future predictive tools.
Commenting, Dr. Gagaoua said: “This study has revealed the relevance in the order of importance of muscle contractile and structure proteins, energy metabolism proteins, response to stress proteins and oxidative stress proteins in the determination of beef tenderness.”
The authors said that most of these pathways and proteins directly or indirectly impinge on apoptosis onset in post-mortem muscle.
Dr. Anne Maria Mullen, co-author and Teagasc academic mentor to Dr. Gagaoua, said: “While many advances have been realised in improving beef eating quality, unexplained variation remains.
This integromics approach has been pivotal in identifying the most important and relevant molecular targets to advance our knowledge and lead to the development of systems for guaranteeing beef tenderness.
Declan Troy, co-author and assistant director of Research in Teagasc, welcomed the research and highlighted its value in “bringing together vast omics studies in an applications-focused manner to address our gaps in knowledge and technology to greatly increase the efficiency of the beef industry in Ireland and on a global level”.
This study has the potential to be of tremendous value to the beef industry worldwide and more specifically for Irish beef industry, the co-author concluded.