Abstract: This study aimed to clone the Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 ( PDK4) gene from Huainan pigs and analyze its bioinformatics characteristics, thereby providing a theoretical basis for subsequent in-depth functional verification of this gene. Using cDNA from the longissimus dorsi muscle of Huainan pigs as a template, the complete CDS region of the PDK4 gene was cloned by PCR, followed by bioinformatics prediction and analysis. The results showed that the full-length CDS of the Huainan pig PDK4 gene was 1 224 bp, encoding a polypeptide of 407 amino acids, which shared high homology with cattle, sheep, and humans. The encoded protein had a molecular weight of 46.17 kDa and was classified as an unstable protein. It contained one Adom3 domain of branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase kinase and one C-terminal domain of histidine kinase-like ATPase, and may have strong correlations with proteins such as UCP3 and DKAT. The qRT-PCR results revealed that the PDK4 gene was widely expressed in various tissues of Huainan pigs, with relatively high expression in adipose tissue. This study provided a foundation for further investigating the biological functions of the PDK4 gene.

Key words: Huainan pig, longissimus dorsi, PDK4, Bioinformatics, tissue expression analysis