Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Mink (Neovison vison) Skin Reveals the Key Genes Involved in the Melanogenesis of Black and White Coat Colour

Xingchao Song,Zhigang Yue,Tongao Yang,Bo Cong,Fuhe Yang,Chao Xu,Linling Liu,Zongyue Liu

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12754-0

Xingchao Song, Zhigang Yue + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-12754-0

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Abstract

Farmed mink (Neovison vison) is one of the most important fur-bearing species worldwide, and coat colour is a crucial qualitative characteristic that contributes to the economic value of the fur. To identify additional genes that may play important roles in coat colour regulation, Illumina/Solexa high-throughput sequencing technology was used to catalogue the global gene expression profiles in mink skin with two different coat colours (black and white). RNA-seq analysis indicated that a total of 12,557 genes were differentially expressed in black versus white minks, with 3,530 genes up-regulated and 9,027 genes down-regulated in black minks. Significant differences were not observed in the expression of MC1R and TYR between the two different coat colours, and the expression of ASIP was not detected in the mink skin of either coat colour. The expression levels of KITLG, LEF1, DCT, TYRP1, PMEL, Myo5a, Rab27a and SLC7A11 were validated by qRT-PCR, and the results were consistent with RNA-seq analysis. This study provides several candidate genes that may be associated with the development of two coat colours in mink skin. These results will expand our understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms underlying skin physiology and melanogenesis in mink and will provide a foundation for future studies.

Highlights

Clean bases 3.65G 3.65G 3.66G 3.66G 3.33G 3.33G 3.53G 3.53G 3.54G 3.54G 4.19G 4.19G 21.28G 22.52G 43.80G molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating coat colour in fur-bearing species, such as mink, are not fully understood
To investigate genes that play important roles in coat colour regulation in mink skin and gain insights into the molecular mechanisms responsible for the biochemistry of the skin and fibres of the mink, we investigated the transcriptome profiles of the skin of minks with wild-type and white coat colours (Fig. 1) using high-throughput deep RNA sequencing
The results provided novel insights into the differences in gene expression associated with coat colour and identified key genes implicated in the melanogenesis pathway

Summary

Introduction

Clean bases 3.65G 3.65G 3.66G 3.66G 3.33G 3.33G 3.53G 3.53G 3.54G 3.54G 4.19G 4.19G 21.28G 22.52G 43.80G molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating coat colour in fur-bearing species, such as mink, are not fully understood. This information is critical for enhancing our basic understanding of the regulation of melanogenesis and for identifying novel pharmacological and molecular genetics approaches to regulate or select for coat colour in fur-bearing species. The results provided novel insights into the differences in gene expression associated with coat colour and identified key genes implicated in the melanogenesis pathway These findings will enable a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in skin pigmentation and provide a valuable theoretical basis for the selection of natural colour traits

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