Expression of porcine myosin heavy chain 1 gene in Berkshire loins with a high pH 24 value

An important factor in evaluating porcine meat quality is the pH at post-mortem 24 h (pH 24 ). In the current work, we conducted a GeneFishing polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–based screen to identify differentially expressed genes in Berkshire loins with high versus low pH 24 . Total RNAs were extracted from Berkshire loins with high and low pH 24 and subjected to GeneFishing PCR. Four genes were found to be differentially expressed in the high and low pH 24 groups. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR confirmed that MYH1 encoding myosin heavy chain 1 was specifically expressed in high pH 24 groups. These results are very useful in establishing the genetic relationship between the composition of muscle fiber type and pH 24 in the Berkshire loin. Key words: GeneFishing TM polymerase chain reaction, myosin heavy chain 1, pork meat quality, post-mortem pH value, pale, soft and exudative.