RT Journal Article T1 A proteomic approach to identify biomarkers of foal meat quality: A focus on tenderness, color and intramuscular fat traits A1 López-Pedrouso, María A1 Lorenzo Rodríguez, José Manuel A1 Cittadini, Aurora A1 Sarries Martínez, María Victoria A1 Gagaoua, Mohammed A1 Franco Ruiz, Daniel K1 Horse K1 Finishing diet K1 Omics K1 Muscle proteins K1 Energy metabolism K1 Response to stress K1 Biochemical pathways AB Foal meat is considered a healthy alternative to other meat sources and more environmentally sustainable. However, its quality is highly variable and there is lack of knowledge about the molecular mechanisms underlying its determination. Genotype and diet play a relevant role as the main factors that can allow a control of the final quality and the use of high-throughput analytical methods such as proteomics is a way to achieve this lofty goal. This research aimed to study-two breeds (Burguete and Jaca Navarra) supplemented with two different finishing diets: conventional concentrate and straw (C) vs silage and organic feed (S). The proteomic approach built a library of 294 proteins that were subjected to several statistical and bioinformatic analyses. Burguete breed finished with concentrate produced higher meat quality in terms of tenderness, intramuscular fat and color lightness mainly due to the high abundance of energy metabolic proteins. Tenderness was correlated to myofibrillar proteins (ACTA1, MYBPH, MYL1 and TNNC1) and energy metabolic proteins (ALDOA, CKM, TPI1 and PGMA2). Regarding color, the main pathways were energy metabolism, involving several glycolytic enzymes (ALDOA, PKM, PFKM and CKM). Oxidative stress and response to stress proteins (HSPA1A, SOD2 and PRDX2) were further involved in color variation. Moreover, we revealed that several proteins were related to the intramuscular fat accordingly to the breed. This study proposed several candidate protein biomarkers for foal meat quality that are worthy to evaluate in the future PB Elsevier YR 2023 FD 2023 LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29487 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29487 LA eng NO Food Chemistry 405 (2023) 134805 NO This research was funded by Interreg V SUDOE, through OPEN2PRESERVE project, Grant No. SOE2/P5/E0804 DS Minerva RD 28 abr 2026