The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family is highly conserved in mammals, and is involved in a variety of physiological phenomena like regeneration, development, cell proliferation, and differentiation. In this study, 13 MAPK genes were identified in cattle and their corresponding protein properties were characterized using genome-wide identification and analysis. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the 13 BtMAPKs were cluster grouped into eight major evolutionary branches, which were segmented into three large subfamilies: ERK, p38 and JNK MAPK. BtMAPKs from the same subfamily had similar protein motif compositions, but considerably different exon-intron patterns. The heatmap analysis of transcriptome sequencing data showed that the expression of BtMAPKs was tissue-specific, with BtMAPK6 and BtMAPK12 highly expressed in muscle tissues. Furthermore, knockdown of BtMAPK6 and BtMAPK12 revealed that BtMAPK6 had no effect on myogenic cell proliferation, but negatively affected the differentiation of myogenic cells. In contrast, BtMAPK12 improved both the cell proliferation and differentiation. Taken together, these results provide novel insights into the functions of MAPK families in cattle, which could serve as a basis for further studies on the specific mechanisms of the genes in myogenesis.

College of Animal Science and Technology Northwest A and F University Yangling 712100 Shaanxi China

College of Animal Science and Technology Northwest A and F University Yangling 712100 Shaanxi China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety Nation Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products South China Agricultural University Guangzhou 510642 China

College of Animal Science and Technology Northwest A and F University Yangling 712100 Shaanxi China; National Beef Cattle Improvement Center Northwest A and F University Yangling 712100 Shaanxi China

Department of Pathology College of Medicine Qassim University P O Box 6655 Buraidah 51452 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Department of Veterinary Medicine College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Qassim University Buraydah 51452 Saudi Arabia

Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Water University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Gulbali Institute Charles Sturt University Boorooma Street Wagga Wagga NSW 2678 Australia

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