Abstract
Estrus expression by gilts and sows is hereditable and important for heat detection. To better understand the molecular biological mechanisms of estrus expression in gilts, the mRNA expression profiles of follicular tissue from Large White gilts in diestrus (LD, n = 3) and estrus (LE, n = 3), and Chinese indigenous Mi gilts in diestrus (MD, n = 2) and estrus (ME, n = 3) were investigated using RNA sequencing. We detected 122,804-335,295 SNPs, 6,140-14,947 InDel and 12 types of AS events (39.57% TSS, 34.90% TTS) in 11 samples. A total of 2,838 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in LD vs MD, LE vs ME, LE vs LD, or ME vs MD comparisons. Two DEGs (ACP5 and PIGS) were observed in all comparisons. Two new genes (ENSSSCG00000028235 and ENSSSCG00000021903) were exclusively expressed in Mi and Large White gilts, respectively. Bioinformatics analyses indicate that these DEGs are involved in single-organism process, catalytic activity, cell adhesion and enriched in ECM-receptor interaction, olfactory transduction, ovarian steroidogenesis, steroid biosynthesis and CAMs signaling pathways. These results of RNA-Seq have provided important information for screening the key functional genes or molecular markers of estrus expression in gilts.
Highlights
Clear visible estrus behaviors, such as standing reflex, reddening and swelling of the vulva, mucus discharge from the vulva, etc., contribute to the reproductive performance of sows[1]
The plasma concentration of estrogen is affected by the dynamic equilibrium of estrogen synthesis and metabolism, which requires the activity of enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 19A1 (CYP19A1), estradiol 17-beta-dehydrogenase 12 (HSD17B12), sulfotransferase family 1 C member 3 (SULT1C3), etc[18, 19]
We investigated the mRNA expression profiles of follicular tissue from Large White gilts at diestrus (LD) and estrus (LE), and Mi gilts at diestrus (MD) and estrus (ME) using RNA-seq
Summary
Clear visible estrus behaviors, such as standing reflex, reddening and swelling of the vulva, mucus discharge from the vulva, etc., contribute to the reproductive performance of sows[1]. Previous studies showed that Chinese indigenous pigs which originated in Taihu Lake Basin, such as Meishan, Erhualian, and Mi pigs, had superior reproductive performance and estrus expression traits than European pigs[8,9,10,11]. Chinese indigenous Mi pigs, as well as Meishan and Erhualian pigs, originated in the lake Taihu basin in Jiangsu province (east China)[23] These Chinese pig breeds have similar biological characteristics[24], such as greater www.nature.com/scientificreports/. Litter size and clearer expression of estrus behaviors Gilts of these Chinese pig breeds reach puberty at an earlier age[25], express behavioral estrus longer, and have slightly shorter estrus cycles[8] than those of Landrace and Large White. The goals of this study were to screen genes and new transcripts that are differentially expressed between two breeds or/and two stages of estrus cycle, and to find which biological processes and pathways have the greatest number of DEGs which could contribute to identifying molecular genetic markers associated with the expression of estrus in pigs
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