Abstract
The FecB gene has been discovered as an important gene in sheep for its high relationship with the ovulation rate, but its regulatory mechanism remains unknown. In the present study, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques were adopted to detect the metabolic effects of FecB gene in follicular fluid (FF) and ovarian vein serum (OVS) in Small Tail Han (STH) sheep. ANOVA and random forest statistical methods were employed for the identification of important metabolic pathways and biomarkers. Changes in amino acid metabolism, redox environment, and energy metabolism were observed in FF from the three FecB genotype STH ewes. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) showed that metabolic effects of FecB gene are more pronounced in FF than in OVS. Therefore, the difference of the metabolic profile in FF is also affected by the FecB genotypes. In Spearman correlation analysis, key metabolites (e.g., glucose 6-phosphate, glucose 1-phosphate, aspartate, asparagine, glutathione oxidized (GSSG), cysteine-glutathione disulfide, γ-glutamylglutamine, and 2-hydrosybutyrate) in ovine FF samples showed a significant correlation with the ovulation rate. Our findings will help to explain the metabolic mechanism of high prolificacy ewes and benefit fertility identification.
Highlights
A single major gene responsible for high fecundity of Booroola Merino was named the FecB by the Committee on Genetic Nomenclature of Sheep and Goats (COGNOSAG, 1989) [1]
Without any other extra exogenous hormones that may induce superovulation in ewes, ovulation rates of three FecB genotype ewes were successfully detected in 51 individuals using the laparoscopy procedure after treatment of estrus synchronization with CIDR (Table 1)
Together with the high level of γ-glutamyl-amino acid and GSSG in FecB carriers, we considered that the capacity of antioxidant defense is necessary for high ovulation rate phenomenon in ewes
Summary
A single major gene responsible for high fecundity of Booroola Merino was named the FecB by the Committee on Genetic Nomenclature of Sheep and Goats (COGNOSAG, 1989) [1]. In Booroola ewes, the effect of the FecB gene increased the ovulation rate and was partially dominant for litter size [5,6]. After many years of arguments, the majority of researchers agree that the FecB gene influences the ovaries by modulating the difference in the ovulation rate [10,11,12,13]. Little attention was paid to the effect of FecB on ovine follicular fluid (FF), as well as the unique microenvironment which can provide energy, nutrition, and regulatory factor for oocyte development and ovulation. We put forward a hypothesis that follicular fluid (FF) and its related ovarian vein serum (OVS) may present differently in their composition between FecB gene carriers and non-carriers
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