Comparative assessment of heat stress induced changes in carcass traits, plasma leptin profile and skeletal muscle myostatin and HSP70 gene expression patterns between indigenous Osmanabadi and Salem Black goat breeds
Introduction
Developing countries constitute substantial small ruminant population and they are considered the major source of the rural economy in these countries (Agarwal, Karim, Kumar, Sahoo, & John, 2014). Small ruminants, especially goats effectively utilize feed, needs low initial investment, require less space for housing, are easy to manage and labour demand is also less (Maitra et al., 2014). Therefore, the contribution of goat production to the livelihood of poor and marginal farmers, especially in developing countries, is well recognized (Maitra et al., 2014; Shilja et al., 2016).
Goats are important from the current climate change perspective compared to other livestock species due to its superior capability to survive in any agro-ecological zone because of their small size, skilful grazing behaviour, higher disease resistance, drought tolerance, and high feed conversion efficiency (Debele et al., 2013; Shilja et al., 2016). In a tropical country like India, goats can effectively tackle the feed scarcity and water shortage arising as a result of climatic extremes. Furthermore, the extent of their contribution in meeting the food demands of the rural poor is often underestimated. Goats are also considered to be the most suitable species from the climate change perspectives for ensuring the livelihood security of the poor and marginal farmers.
The livestock meat and carcass quality characteristics are governed by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The intrinsic factors that affect the meat quality in ruminants include species, breed, age, weight at slaughter and gender (male, female, castrated). Similarly, the extrinsic factors affecting the meat quality include stress (environmental effect, transportation and handling), diet and weaning (Guerrero, Velandia Valero, Campo, & Sañudo, 2013). Among the environmental factors, heat stress was identified as the major pre-disposing factor in negatively affecting the livestock meat production (Nardone, Ronchi, Lacetera, Ranieri, & Bernabucci, 2010). However, literatures pertaining to impacts of heat stress on livestock meat production are inadequate and warrants further detailed studies to gather information to project the adversities associated with heat stress on meat industries. The limited literatures available in these lines clearly point towards the adverse impacts of heat stress on the overall meat yield, quality and composition (Gregory, 2010; Kadim et al., 2008). Heat stress also declines the muscle pH which in turn affects all the physico-chemical attributes such as cooking loss, water holding capacity (WHC), meat colour and shear force (Gregory, 2010). In addition, the severity of heat stress was also established at the cellular level in inducing changes in the expression of genes, such as heat shock proteins (HSPs), that play a role in the growth performance of livestock (Chauhan, Celi, Fahri, Leury, & Dunshea, 2014).
The heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is one of the most abundant and best characterized HSP family that consists of highly conserved stress proteins, expressed in response to stress, and plays crucial roles in environmental stress tolerance and adaptation in goat (Banerjee et al., 2014; Gupta, Kumar, Dangi, & Jangir, 2013; Mohanarao et al., 2014). Further, it is an established fact that HSP70 expression increases during heat stress in goat (Dangi et al., 2012a, Dangi et al., 2012b; Banerjee et al., 2014). Enhanced HSP70 expression in heat stressed animals may be a response to stressful environments and may improve cell survival by protecting proteins from degradation and facilitating their refolding (Dangi et al., 2014). Dangi et al. (2014) also reported HSP70 could play an important role during the initial phase of heat stress acclimation in goats. However, not much research reports available correlating HSP70 expression to livestock meat production characteristics.
The breed is an important factor which determines the morphology of the carcass in terms of maintaining the meat quality and fat quantity, and is the basis for comparing and identifying the choice of breed for goat production in specific agro-ecological zone. Breed factor also was found to influence the chemical composition (amino acid, moisture, total fats, proteins, ash), cooking loss and sensory attributes of chevon (Ivanovic et al., 2014). However, researches in this area pertaining to the influence of breed on goat carcass characteristics are inadequate.
Research reports addressing the impact of shifting an adapted breed from a very harsh climatic condition to a location with a relatively less magnitude of heat stress on the meat production potential is negligible. Such efforts are very crucial as the scientific community attempt to identify the most suitable breed to a specific agro-ecological zone in an effort to sustain meat production in the changing climate scenario. In this line, the study was designed to delineate the underlying biological mechanisms by which heat stress influences the meat characteristics of two indigenous Osmanabadi and Salem Black goat breeds. Salem Black breed is well known for its survival in the hot humid tropical environment. Therefore, this study to assess the impact of heat stress on the meat quality in the two indigenous goat breeds in a comparative mode with the Salem Black breed brought to the native zone of Osmanabadi goats. The primary objective of the study was to assess the impact of heat stress on the meat production characteristics of Osmanabadi and Salem Black goats based on changes in carcass characteristics, meat quality attributes, plasma leptin profile and skeletal muscle myostatin and HSP70 gene expression patterns.
Section snippets
Location
The experiment was conducted at the National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology experimental livestock farm (NIANP), Bengaluru, India, which is located at the longitude 77° 38′E and the latitude of 12° 58′N and at altitude of 920 m above mean sea level. The average annual maximum and minimum ambient temperature in this geographical region ranges between 15 and 36 °C. The mean annual relative humidity (RH) ranges between 20 and 85%. The experiment was conducted during the summer months
Temperature-humidity index and other stress variables
The THI index calculated clearly indicated that the animals exposed to outside environment faced severe heat shock as the values recorded during the afternoon was 86.5 (Fig. 1). The RT recorded both during day 0 and day 45 is illustrated in Fig. 2. The RT did not differ both during day 0 and day 45 in control groups of both the breeds. However, in the heat stress groups the RT increased significantly (P < 0.01) in both breeds. A strong positive correlation (P < 0.01) was also established
Discussion
The THI index calculated clearly indicated that the animals exposed to outside environment faced severe heat shock as the values recorded during the afternoon was 86.5 and as per McDowell (1972) any THI values above 78 are considered extreme heat stress to animals. The RT increased both in OSHS and SBHS groups as compared to their respective control groups. This indicates that the animals were experiencing severe heat shock during heat stress exposure. This shows that the stress model followed
Conclusion
This study established the impact of heat stress on a wide variety of carcass and meat quality characteristics in OS and SB goat breeds. The results from the study also provided some crucial evidence for a better resilience capacity of Salem Black breed as compared to Osmanabadi goats in maintaining the meat production during heat stress. The study also identified plasma leptin and HSP70 genes could serve as ideal biological markers for assessing the impact of heat stress on meat quality in
Acknowledgement
The authors are most grateful to the Director, ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology for providing the research facilities to complete this study. The authors are also thankful to the PG students from the Department of Livestock Product Technology, Hebbal Veterinary College, Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fishery Sciences University, Hebbal, Bangalore, India for helping us with animal slaughter and carcass variables recording. The authors are highly thankful to the Indian
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