Gene co-expression network analysis reveals key potential gene modules in utero-vaginal junction associated with duration of fertility trait of breeder hens

Lantao Gu,Mei Yu,Yanzhang Gong,Shijun Li,Ruoxi Jing,Abdelmotaleb Elokil

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50148-6

Lantao Gu, Mei Yu + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50148-6

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Abstract

The number of days (DN) when hens lay fertile eggs as well as the number of fertile eggs (FN) were produced after a single artificial insemination (AI), including the two duration of fertility (DF) traits. Indeed, they are the key production performance that associates with the production cost of hatching egg when its determination the interval between successive artificial inseminations. However, the relevant genes response for regulating the DF has not been uncovered yet. Therefore, we performed a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to investigate the insight into co-expression gene modules on DF process in hens. The total mRNA was extracted from the utero-vaginal junction (UVJ, with the sperm storage function in hen’s oviduct which is the biological basis for DF) of 20 hens with several levels of DF traits, and performed transcriptome sequences of mRNA. As a result, three co-expression gene modules were identified to be highly correlated with DF traits. Moreover, the expression changes of top 5 hub genes in each module with DF traits were further confirmed in other 20 hens by RT-PCR. These findings highlighted the co-expression modules and their affiliated genes as playing important roles in the regulation of DF traits.

Highlights

The avian females have the ability to store sperm in their reproductive tracts following the natural copulation or artificial insemination (AI) for days or weeks, locating utero-vaginal junction (UVJ)
We performed RNA sequencing and a systematic weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to gain a better understanding of the transcriptomic changes in UVJ tissues of hens with duration of fertility trait on a genome-wide scale
Our findings revealed that fifty-four co-expression gene modules were discovered in UVJ of hens and three modules were found significantly associated with duration of fertility traits in this study

Summary

Introduction

The avian females have the ability to store sperm in their reproductive tracts following the natural copulation or AI for days or weeks (depending on the species), locating utero-vaginal junction (UVJ). The long or short DF are identified the frequency of AI because any reduction in this frequency without loss of fertility directly reduces the cost of producing hatching eggs, to cut down the number of breeder males and labor costs associated with AI3. It could alleviate the stress and suffering of hens from frequent AI. In mature hens’ oviduct, many specialized simple tubulars invaginate the utero-vaginal junction (UVJ) mucosal folds[4] These tubulars protects a long-time sperm storage function, were referred to as sperm storage tubules (SSTs). RNA sequenced and WGCNA presented the key potential gene co-expression modules associated with breeder hens’ duration of fertility traits and their possible implications in duration of fertility process

Methods

Results

Conclusion