NC131: Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Skeletal Muscle Growth and Differentiation
Statement of Issues and Justification
This multistate research project is designed to meet the need for new, fundamental information about the molecular and cellular processes that regulate growth and differentiation of skeletal muscle in meat animals. Skeletal muscle, as meat, is the primary product of animal agriculture. Rational approaches for improving the efficiency of lean meat production and enhancing the quality of the final product rely implicitly on fundamental knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate growth of skeletal muscle tissue in the animal. Development of management and nutrition strategies, nutritional approaches, and genetic approaches to improving lean tissue growth all rely on a fundamental understanding of the molecular regulatory processes involved in skeletal muscle differentiation and growth.
JUSTIFICATION: This proposal describes a cooperative, multistate, multidisciplinary, basic research project with the overall goal of increasing the efficiency of lean meat production in domestic animals. This proposal for renewal of the NC-131 project describes the collaborative effort of 13 units and 24 principal investigators to characterize specific aspects of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate skeletal muscle growth. Major points that support the continuation of this important, fundamental research projects for the next five years are:
- The project relates to an important problem. Meeting consumer needs for a high quality product while maintaining profitability of production, decreasing environmental impacts, and minimizing use of natural resources will require improvements in the efficiency of meat production in domestic animals. These efforts rely directly on fundamental knowledge of the biological mechanisms that regulate muscle growth.
- The project relates directly to identified national and regional agricultural research priorities:
- Goal 1 of the CSREES National Program Goals is "To achieve an agricultural production system that is highly competitive in the global economy." Improving the efficiency of meat production in domestic animals, based on fundamental knowledge of the mechanisms of muscle growth, is directly related to this goal.
- The crosscutting research areas established by the NCRA Committee in the Agricultural Production, Processing and Distribution area include "Develop improved animal, plant, and microbial production, production and marketing systems that are competitive, profitable and environmentally sound over the long term." This project provides the basic research necessary to achieve this goal.
- The project supports current efforts to map and characterize genes important in animal production, by providing fundamental information about the regulation and expression of genes during muscle differentiation and growth.
- The NC-131 Committee continues to be highly productive. Attachment III.B. lists 215 refereed papers, 57 book chapters/conference proceedings and 156 abstracts that have resulted from the first four years of the current five-year NC-131 project, and additional publications are expected by the September 30, 2000, termination date. Many of these papers are in high quality basic science journals, attesting to the quality of the work and justifying the basic approach of this project. As described in the Critical Review, substantial progress has been made under each of the specific objectives of the current project.
- The NC-131 project is both a multistate and a multidisciplinary project, involving the effort of investigators at 11 different State Agricultural Experiment Stations and 2 USDA-ARS laboratories. The 24 Principal Investigators listed in Attachment I represent a variety of basic science disciplines that complement each other and provide the expertise necessary to complete the objectives.
- The project-continues to involve a strong cooperative effort between the various units. Cooperative efforts during the current project have involved activities such as exchange of reagents, including well-characterized monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and cDNA probes, sharing of knowledge and techniques, joint use of equipment and techniques available at particular stations, and joint publication of research results. Numerous collaborative projects are described in the procedures for the proposed revision. The committee feels strongly that the collaborations in this project would have been substantially more difficult to establish and maintain outside the framework of a funded regional project.
- The members of the NC-131 committee have been highly successful in obtaining outside support to fund the research. Funding from the USDA NRICGP Program, NIH, NSF, and industry sources has been essential to carry out the work and to maintain the high level of productivity of the group, and this record of outside funding is expected to continue.
In summary, this project describes a fundamental research approach to an important agricultural problem. The investigators at the cooperating stations have demonstrated a high level of productivity, and are, thus, capable of making substantial progress towards the objectives outlined in this revised project proposal.
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