Abstract
ABSTRACTLow-temperature injury is one of the most significant causes of livestock damage worldwide. To identify genes that respond to cold stress, the transcriptome profile of the skeletal muscle of the Min pig (Sus scrofa) after cold stress was analysed using the deep sequencing technique. One group was raised in the normal environment (18 ± 2°C, n = 3) as the thermos-neutral group; another group was raised in the low-temperature environment (4 ± 2°C, n = 3) as the cold stress group. After 24 h, the gene expression profile of skeletal muscle was analysed. The results showed that the expression levels of 662 genes were significantly up-regulated, and those of 1058 genes were significantly down-regulated in the thermos-neutral and the cold stress groups (P < 0.01). It was found through Gene Ontology analysis that the significantly differently expressed genes were mainly distributed in the cytoplasm, mitochondrion, organelle envelope and ribosomal subunit. They enriched ribosome, fatty acid metabolism, RNA transport and metabolic pathways. It means that cold stress could significantly change the gene expression profile of pig muscle.
Highlights
Temperature is one of the primary environmental factors that influences and limits the growth and development of livestock and poultry species
To identify genes that respond to cold stress, the transcriptome profile of the skeletal muscle of the Min pig (Sus scrofa) after cold stress was analysed using the deep sequencing technique
The piglets of the thermos-neutral group were placed in a room which was heated to 18 ± 2°C and the piglets of the cold stress group were placed in a house which was cooled to 4 ± 2°C
Summary
Temperature is one of the primary environmental factors that influences and limits the growth and development of livestock and poultry species. Pigs are rather cold susceptible and are usually kept in heated housing when raised in cold regions (Young 1981). This is mainly because pigs are unusual mammals in a number of ways: they are the only ungulates that build nests for birth, and have large litters, where each young is behaviourally well developed but with a poor thermoregulatory ability. Is HPA the main regulative system, but muscle, liver and brain are main heat production organs. There was almost no reports about molecular mechanism of pig muscle under cold stress, that limited the research on protect pig avoid low temperature injury, even, on cultivate a cold tolerance pig breed
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