Project description:To explore functional lncRNAs during sheep muscle growth, we systematically investigated lncRNAs using strand-specific Ribo-Zero RNA Sequencing at three key developmental stages of Hu sheep (110-day fetus, 5-day-old lamb and 2-year-old adult)
Project description:A 1.5-year-old healthy male Hu sheep was selected and castrated for testis collection, then single cell suspension was obtained using enzymatic digestion method for single cell sequencing. And the cell types of sheep testis and marker genes of each cell type were identified based on the RNA sequencing.
Project description:A 6-month-old healthy male Hu sheep was selected and castrated for testis collection, then single cell suspension was obtained using enzymatic digestion method for single cell sequencing. And the cell types of sheep testis and marker genes of each cell type were identified based on the RNA sequencing.
Project description:We performed systematic analysis of site-specific O-glycosylation in mouse testis at different developmental stages, and investigated its alternation during spermatogenesis.
Project description:The early stages of mammalian embryonic development involve the participation and cooperation of numerous complex processes, including nutritional, genetic, and epigenetic mechanisms. However, in embryos cultured in vitro, a developmental block occurs that affects embryo development and the efficiency of culture. Although the block period is reported to involve the transcriptional repression of maternal genes and transcriptional activation of zygotic genes, how epigenetic factors regulate developmental block is still unclear. In this study, we systematically analyzed whole-genome methylation levels during five stages of sheep oocyte and preimplantation embryo development using SC-WGBS technology. Then, we examined several million CpG sites in individual cells at each evaluated developmental stage to identify the methylation changes that take place during the development of sheep preimplantation embryos. Our results showed that two strong waves of methylation changes occurred, namely, demethylation at the 8- to 16-cell stage and methylation at the 16- to 32-cell stage. Analysis of DNA methylation patterns in different functional regions revealed a stable hypermethylation status in 3'UTRs and gene bodies; however, significant differences were observed in intergenic and promoter regions at different developmental stages. Changes in methylation at different stages of preimplantation embryo development were also compared to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in sheep embryo development at the methylation level. In conclusion, we report a detailed analysis of the DNA methylation dynamics during the development of sheep preimplantation embryos. Our results provide an explanation for the complex regulatory mechanisms underlying the embryo developmental block based on changes in DNA methylation levels.
