Differential gene expression drives muscle metabolic and structural differences in Liang Guang small spotted vs. large white pigs.

The Liang Guang Small Spotted (LGSS) pigs, an indigenous Chinese breed, are reported to exhibit desirable muscle attributes such as high intramuscular fat deposition, smaller muscle fiber diameter, and superior water-holding capacity. However, despite these merits, its commercial utility is constrained by suboptimal growth rates and diminished carcass yield. To explore transcriptomic differences potentially associated with distinct muscle phenotypes and identify targets for productivity enhancement, we performed integrated transcriptomic analysis of longissimus dorsi muscles (LDMs) from LGSS and Large White (LW) pigs. We characterized differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs), which were primarily enriched in key biological processes including glycolysis and carbon metabolism, structural organization, as well as signaling cascades such as HIF-1, AMPK, and PI3K-Akt. This study uncovers significant transcriptomic distinctions and identifies candidate regulatory molecules in LGSS pigs, offering potential biomarkers and a framework for future functional studies aimed at genetic improvement.