Abstract:Myostatin (MSTN), as a negative regulator of animal muscle growth, plays an important role in improving animal muscle production and lean meat rate. In this study, a bibliometric search was conducted using "MSTN/GDF8/Myostatin" as the search term for the relevant papers included in the Web of Science Core Collection database and CNKI China Academic Journal Full Text Database from 2000 to 2020. The data were visualized using Excel 2016, GraphPad Prism 8.4.0 and VOS viewer software. The results showed that a total of 4404 SCI papers on MSTN were retrieved through the Web of Science platform, among which 675 papers were published in China. The 759 papers were retrieved within the CNKI Chinese Academic Journals Full Text Database. According to statistics, the number of published papers on MSTN in the world showed an overall upward trend from 2000 to 2020. The United States and some countries with developed animal husbandry have conducted more indepth research on MSTN; although Chinese scholars has published a large number of papers, its average citation frequency is relatively low. There is a need for scholars to conduct research in this area from different dimensions and to strengthen interinstitutional cooperation in order to narrow the gap and improve papers. In addition, the research directions of MSTN are concentrated in the four fields of molecular biology, agronomy, genetics, biotechnology and microbiology. This paper provides statistical analysis and visualization to help researchers in China to understand the research trends and directions related to MSTN and to develop excellent breeding varieties.
