RESUMO
RT-PCR was used to study the temporal and spatial pattern of Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression in four different skeletal muscles (i.e., longissimus dorsi muscle, soleus muscle, gastrocnemius muscle, and extensor digitorum longus) and three growth stages (i.e., 2 days old, 2 and 6 months old) of Hu Sheep. The results showed that YAP1 was differentially expressed in skeletal muscles of sheep, that expression increased gradually with age, and that there were high levels of expression in the gastrocnemius muscle and lower levels in the longissimus dorsi muscle. MyHCI was expressed at high levels in the soleus muscle and at lower levels in the longissimus dorsi muscle. In contrast, MyHCIIA and MyHCIIX were expressed at high levels in the extensor digitorum longus and at lower levels in the soleus muscle. The expression of MyHCI and MyHCIIA decreased with increasing age while that of MyHCIIX increased. YAP1 expression was negatively correlated with MyHCII (P < 0.01) and positively correlated with MyHCIIX (P < 0.01) across all growth stages and skeletal muscle types studied. We speculate that after birth, the thicker muscle fiber diameter is associated with the high expression of MyHCIIX. Therefore, we conclude that YAP1 expression affects sheep muscle fiber development after birth and provides important genetic information for the selection candidate genes for sheep muscle growth.