Project description:Improving the fertility of sheep is an important goal in sheep breeding as it greatly increases the productivity. Dolang sheep is a typical representative breed of lamb in Xinjiang and is the main local sheep breed and meat source in the region. To explore the genes associated with the initiation of puberty in Dolang sheep, the hypothalamic tissues of Dolang sheep prepubertal, pubertal, and postpubertal periods were collected for RNA-seq analysis on the Illumina platform.
Project description:Our objective was to investigate differences in gene expression between 24 parasite-resistant hair and 24 susceptible wool lambs to determine genetic mechanisms involved in resistance to H. contortus. Half of the animals of each breed were infected and sacrificed at 3 or 27 days post-infection; the remaining animals were uninfected controls. Breed differences in abomasum and abomasal lymph node tissue gene expression were assessed using bovine cDNA microarrays. Over 60 transcripts differed between breeds for each tissue and infection status. Genes differentially expressed between hair and wool sheep 3 days PI were assessed for gene function and mechanisms for greater immune cell infiltration, abomasal tissue repair, Th17 response, and anticoagulation were present in parasite-resistant hair sheep. By 27 days PI, hair sheep had greater expression of genes involved in gut motility, inflammatory cytokines, and cell proliferation and differentiation compared to wool sheep. Changes in these processes indicate Caribbean hair sheep have a stronger inflammatory response when infected with H. contortus which may facilitate the increased parasite resistance observed in these sheep.
Project description:This study presents a dynamic characterization of the sheep milk transcriptome aiming at achieving a better understanding of the sheep lactating mammary gland. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on total RNA extracted from milk somatic cells from ewes on days 10, 50, 120 and 150 after lambing. The experiment was performed in Spanish Churra and Assaf breeds, which differ in their milk production traits. Nearly 67% of the annotated genes in the reference genome (Oar_v3.1) were expressed in ovine milk somatic cells. For the two breeds and across the four lactation stages studied, the most highly expressed genes encoded caseins and whey proteins. We detected differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across lactation points, with the largest differences being found, between day 10 and day 150. Upregulated GO terms at late lactation stages were linked mainly to developmental processes linked to extracellular matrix remodeling. A total of 256 annotated DEGs were detected in the Assaf and Churra comparison. Some genes selectively upregulated in the Churra breed grouped under the endopeptidase and channel activity GO terms. These genes could be related to the higher cheese yield of this breed. Overall, this study provides the first integrated overview on sheep milk gene expression.
Project description:Texel and Ujumqin sheep show obvious differences in muscle and fat growth, so they are ideal models not only to understand the molecular mechanism in prenatal skeletal muscle development, but to identify the potential target genes of myostatin. To elucidate the phenotypic variation between the two sheep breeds and the dynamic characteristics of gene expression in skeletal muscle during the development, we examined the development of skeletal muscle in transcriptome-wide level at 70, 85,100,120 , 135 days post coitus (dpc),birth, 1 month and 2 month. Using the specialized and standardized sheep transcriptome-wide oligo DNA microarray (Agilent), we analyzed the transcriptomic profiles of longissmuss dorsi muscle from fetuses of Texel and Ujumqin sheep. We characterized dynamic transcriptome-wide profiles that accompany the prenatal skeletal muscle and fat development in Texel and Ujumqin sheep respectively, and compared the difference in profiles of gene expression between the two sheep breeds at the same developmental stage.Some potential myostatin target genes and other genes controlling the growth of skeletal muscle and adipose were identified for further examinations. Our findings not only contribute to understand the molecular mechanism of prenatal skeletal muscle development in large precocial species, but also provide some clues for human myopathy and obesity at prenatal stages. Moreover, we also can identify putative candidate genes for meat quality traits in farm animals. Longissimus dorsi muscles were sampled from five prenatal development stages (70, 85, 100, 120 and 135 day of gestation) in Texel and eight development stages (at 70, 85, 100, 120, 135 days post coitus (dpc), birth, 1 month and 2 month) in Ujumqin sheep. There were at least three replicates at each development time in each breed. Two gene expression experiments were conducted with a total of 40 hybridizations.
Project description:We report the application of single-molecule-based sequencing technology for high-throughput profiling of different ovine muscle's transcriptomes. 9.27 gigabases of sequence from two different breeds of sheep. Examination of 2 different muscle's transcriptomes in 2 breed types.
Project description:Sheep provide considerable materials for the animal fibre industry. Identifying genes of major effect for wool growth would offer strategies for improving the quality of fine wool. In this study, we employed Agilent Sheep Gene Expression Microarray and proteomic technology to investigate the gene expression patterns of body side skin between Aohan fine wool sheep and small tail Han sheep (two Chinese indigenous breed) at the anagen stage of wool follicle. Several potential gene families might participate in hair growth regulation, including fibroblast growth factors, transforming growth factor-β, WNTs, insulin-like growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factors and so on. Furthermore, according to the results at both mRNA and protein levels, similar regulation mechanism of gene activity might be engaged during skin development and embryo development.
Project description:An essential tissue involved in the development and regulation of lipid metabolism in animals is adipose tissue. The “fat-tail” can supply energy for sheep during migration and winter when a low amount of dry matter intake is available. Tail fat content affects meat quality and varies significantly among the different breeds of sheep. Ghezel (fat-tailed) and Zel (thin-tailed) are two important local Iranian sheep breeds that show different patterns of fat storage. The current study presents the transcriptome characterization of tail fat using RNA-sequencing in order to get a better comprehension of the molecular mechanism of lipid storage in the two sheep breeds. The results of sequencing were analyzed with bioinformatics methods, including differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identification, functional enrichment analysis, structural classification of proteins, protein–protein interaction (PPI), network analysis and module analysis. The results revealed a total of332 DEGs between the Zel and Ghezel breed, with78 up-regulated and 254 down-regulated DEGs in the Zel breed. Identification of differential genes showed that some DEGs, such as IL-6, LIPG, SAA1, SOCS3 and HIF-1α, with the largest fold change had close association with lipid deposition. Also, important lipid storage genes such as FASN and SCPEP1 had high levels of expression. Furthermore, functional enrichment analysis revealed some pathways associated with fat deposition, such as “Fatty acid metabolism”, “Fatty acid biosynthesis” and“HIF-1 signaling pathway”. In addition, structural classification of proteins showed major DEGs in transcription factor classes such as JUNB, NR4A3, FOSL1, MAFF, NR4A1, CREB3L1 and ATF3 were up-regulated in the Zel breed. IL-6, JUNB, and related DEGs were up-regulated in the PPI network.HMGCS1, SUCLA2 and STT3B and related DEGs were down-regulated in the PPI network and had high topology scores as hub genes. This implies the DEGs of these modules are important candidate genes for tail fat metabolism and, therefore, can be further studied.
Project description:An essential tissue involved in the development and regulation of lipid metabolism in animals is adipose tissue. The “fat-tail” can supply energy for sheep during migration and winter when a low amount of dry matter intake is available. Tail fat content affects meat quality and varies significantly among the different breeds of sheep. Ghezel (fat-tailed) and Zel (thin-tailed) are two important local Iranian sheep breeds that show different patterns of fat storage. The current study presents the transcriptome characterization of tail fat using RNA-sequencing in order to get a better comprehension of the molecular mechanism of lipid storage in the two sheep breeds. The results of sequencing were analyzed with bioinformatics methods, including differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identification, functional enrichment analysis, structural classification of proteins, protein–protein interaction (PPI), network analysis and module analysis. The results revealed a total of332 DEGs between the Zel and Ghezel breed, with78 up-regulated and 254 down-regulated DEGs in the Zel breed. Identification of differential genes showed that some DEGs, such as IL-6, LIPG, SAA1, SOCS3 and HIF-1α, with the largest fold change had close association with lipid deposition. Also, important lipid storage genes such as FASN and SCPEP1 had high levels of expression. Furthermore, functional enrichment analysis revealed some pathways associated with fat deposition, such as “Fatty acid metabolism”, “Fatty acid biosynthesis” and“HIF-1 signaling pathway”. In addition, structural classification of proteins showed major DEGs in transcription factor classes such as JUNB, NR4A3, FOSL1, MAFF, NR4A1, CREB3L1 and ATF3 were up-regulated in the Zel breed. IL-6, JUNB, and related DEGs were up-regulated in the PPI network.HMGCS1, SUCLA2 and STT3B and related DEGs were down-regulated in the PPI network and had high topology scores as hub genes. This implies the DEGs of these modules are important candidate genes for tail fat metabolism and, therefore, can be further studied.
Project description:The Bashbay sheep (Ovis aries), an indigenous breed of Xinjiang, China, has many excellent characteristics. However, hybrids of Argali sheep and Bashbay sheep are susceptible to Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae infection, the causative agent of mycoplasma ovipneumonia, a chronic respiratory disease that is harmful to the sheep industry. To date, knowledge regarding the mechanisms responsible for M. ovipneumoniae pathogenesis is in scant. Herein, we report the results of transcriptome profiling of lung tissues from Argali hybrid sheep experimentally infected with an M. ovipneumoniae strain at 4 and 14 days post-infection, in comparison to mock-infected animals (0 d). Transcriptome profiling was performed by deep RNA sequencing, using the Illumina platform. The analysis of differentially expressed genes was performed to determine concomitant gene-specific temporal patterns of mRNA expression in the lungs after M. ovipneumoniae infection. We found 156 differentially expressed genes (44 up-regulated, 112 down-regulated) when comparing transcriptomic data at 4 and 0 days post-infection, and 367 (35 up-regulated, 332 down-regulated) when comparing 14 versus 0 days post-infection. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes at 4 and 14 versus 0 days post-infection were enriched in 109 and 150 pathways, respectively, and the Primary immunodeficiency pathway was considered most closely related to MO infection (p < 0.01). Hyper-IgM syndrome was identified based on the B-cell immunodeficiency signaling pathway from differentially expressed genes related M. ovipneumoniae infection. Gene Ontology analysis showed that differentially expressed genes in different groups were enriched for 497 and 928 terms, where those most closely related to M. ovipneumoniae infection are ciliated motor damage (p < 0.01). These results could aid in understanding why the Argali hybrid sheep are susceptible to MO as well as how M. ovipneumoniae infection progresses in the lungs and may provide useful information regarding key regulatory pathways.