Project description:Some rookeries of the western distinct population segment (WDPS) of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in the Aleutian Islands (Alaska, USA) have experienced continued declines since the initial collapse of the population in the 1970-1980s. Several theories have been put forward to explain the decline and lack of subsequent recovery including predation, nutritional stress, contaminants, and infectious disease agents, but thus far a primary cause has not been identified. Examining gene expression profiles of organisms has been promoted as a way to assess several health indicators related to toxicoses, infection, and nutritional stress using recent advances in metagenetics (next-generation sequencing) analyses. Next-generation sequencing may provide a more refined and adaptable method of investigating sea lion health under difficult research field collections. Here we suggest that the application of next-generation sequencing tools has the potential to evaluate the transcriptomic (gene expression) profile of animals from declining rookeries. We show that high quality RNA can be obtained from wildlife populations despite logistically challenging field conditions. We compared RNA expression in whole blood using whole transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) among animals with relatively high concentrations of total mercury ([THg]) to animals with lower concentrations. There did not appear to be significant changes in gene expression in animals with high [THg] in whole blood, despite some animals having concentrations above thresholds of concern for model organisms. We did find evidence of a bias toward downregulation of some genes in animals with higher [THg].
Project description:Lion-head goose is the only large goose species in China, and it was one of the largest goose species in the world. Our previous study firstly reported a chromosome-level genome assembly of Lion-head goose (Anser cygnoides), a native breed in South China, through the combination of PacBio, Bionano, and Hi-C technologies. The fat content of foie gras is augmented during its preparation due to the special feeding regimen. Lion-head geese have a strong tolerance of massive energy intake and show a priority of fat accumulation in liver tissue. In this study, we studied for the first time the important differential genes that regulate fatty liver in Lion-head goose. After high-intake feeding, the fatty livers of Lion-head geese were distinctly characterized. The revelation of gene regulation is an important basis for the study of liver development and molecular characteristics for the Lion-head goose. To analyze the excellent fatty liver performance of Lion-head goose at the molecular level, we performed whole transcriptome analysis by high-throughput RNA sequencing to analyze the key regulatory genes that determine the fatty livers in high-intake feeding group compared with the normal livers in normally-fed Lion-head geese. We identified 716 differentially expressed mRNAs, 145 differentially expressed circRNAs, and 39 differentially expressed lncRNAs in the fatty livers in high-intake feeding group compared with the normal livers in normally-fed Lion-head geese, including upregulated and downregulated genes, respectively. GO enrichment analysis showed that these genes were significantly enriched in molecular function, involved in extracellular regions, DNA-binding transcription factor activity, extracellular matrix, heme binding and other life activities. We chose differentially expressed genes involved in either upregulation or downregulation, and we additionally confirmed the accuracy of sequencing at the RNA level. In summary, our research suggested that these differentially expressed genes may play important roles in fatty liver development in Lion-head goose. However, the functions and mechanisms of these significantly differentially expressed genes should be investigated in future studies.