Project description:The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) is a star example of the efforts of conservation programs in bringing endangered species back from the brink of extinction. As one of the world’s most endangered mammals, the vast majority of black-footed ferrets living in the wild today are the offspring of a founding captive population. The success of this ongoing breeding program, however, is threatened by inbreeding depression and the observed decline in pregnancy rates since its founding. As the wild and modern captive populations share a genetic history, the greatest difference between the two groups is the captive environment of the breeding program. In this study, we used RNA sequencing and proteomics for the first time in black-footed ferrets to explore whether the diet of wild ferrets versus captive diet variants could explain the differences in fertility and sperm characteristics observed between each population. We find that changes in both the transcriptional and proteomic profile of black-footed ferret ejaculate are strongly associated with differences in fertility, especially in pathways associated with innate immunity and metabolism; that transcriptional changes are further exacerbated by diet. Overall, our results support the hypothesis of ongoing environmental-dependent inbreeding depression in the black-footed ferret, with a need to re-evaluate dietary and environmental parameters of the conservation program; and also illustrates the value of multi-level genomics for conservation management programs.
Project description:Lower selection intensity resulted in obvious genetically and phenotypically divergences in China indigenous breeds. Nanyang black pig, a China indigenous breed, was famous for its high lipid deposition and high genetic divergence, which made it an ideal model investigating mechanism of lipid position traits in pig. Here, transcriptome and TMT-based proteome analyses were carried out in longissimus dorsi (LD) tissue of high genetic variation individual Nanyang black pigs. After phenotyping in a big population with multi-production traits indexes, six Nanyang black pigs were selected and divided into relatively high and low lipid deposition groups. Combining analyses of transcriptomic and proteomic data identified 15 candidate genes determining lipid deposition genetic divergence in Nanyang black pig. Among them, FASN, CAT, and SLC25A20 were main causal candidate genes. The other genes could be divided as lipid deposition related gene (BDH2, FASN, CAT, DHCR24, ACACA, GK, SQLE, ACSL4, SCD), PPARA-centered fat metabolism regulatory factors (PPARA, UCP3), transcription or translation regulators (SLC25A20, PDK4, CEBPA), and integrin, structural proteins, signal transduction-related genes (EGFR). The multi-omics data set provided a valuable resource for analyses on lipid deposition-traits in pig, especially in Nanyang black pig.
Project description:Lifespan varies both within and across species, but the general principles of its control are not understood. To identify transcriptomic signatures of mammalian longevity, we sequenced multiple organs of young adult mammals corresponding to 8 different species, including Canadian beaver, long-tailed macaque, greater tube-nosed bat, baboon, white-footed mouse, sugar glider, Siberian chipmunk and American black bear. We aggregated this dataset with publicly available pan-mammalian data and performed multi-tissue gene expression analyses across 41 mammalian species. This allowed us to identifiy signatures of species longevity and assess their relationship with biomarkers of aging and lifespan-extending interventions. This dataset complements RNAseq profiles of tissues from 23 mammalian species stored at GSE43013.
Project description:In feather-footed pigeons, mutant alleles of PITX1 and TBX5 drive the partial redeployment of an evolutionarily conserved forelimb genetic program in the hindlimb.