Abstract
The large intestine, also known as the hindgut, is an important part of the animal digestive system. Recent studies on digestive system development in ruminants have focused on the rumen and the small intestine, but the molecular mechanisms underlying sheep large intestine metabolism remain poorly understood. To identify genes related to intestinal metabolism and to reveal molecular regulation mechanisms, we sequenced and compared the transcriptomes of mucosal epithelial tissues among the cecum, proximal colon and duodenum. A total of 4,221 transcripts from 3,254 genes were identified as differentially expressed transcripts. Between the large intestine and duodenum, differentially expressed transcripts were found to be significantly enriched in 6 metabolism-related pathways, among which PPAR signaling was identified as a key pathway. Three genes, CPT1A, LPL and PCK1, were identified as higher expression hub genes in the large intestine. Between the cecum and colon, differentially expressed transcripts were significantly enriched in 5 lipid metabolism related pathways, and CEPT1 and MBOAT1 were identified as hub genes. This study provides important information regarding the molecular mechanisms of intestinal metabolism in sheep and may provide a basis for further study.
Highlights
Several studies have reported the successful transcriptome sequencing of multiple tissues in sheep brain[15], uterus[16], skeletal muscle[17,18,19], mammary gland[20], milk[21], rumen[22], and skin[23] tissues
The primary chambers of the rumen facilitate the action of a complex mixture of micro-organisms in fermenting a portion of the plant polysaccharides and lipids to short-chain volatile fatty acids (SCFAs), principally acetate, butyrate and propionate[26]
SCFAs are the primary carbon energy source of ruminants, and the rumen is the major site of their uptake[26]
Summary
Several studies have reported the successful transcriptome sequencing of multiple tissues in sheep brain[15], uterus[16], skeletal muscle[17,18,19], mammary gland[20], milk[21], rumen[22], and skin[23] tissues. To the best of our knowledge, only two transcriptomic studies on sheep have recently been conducted on large intestine metabolism. Using transcriptome data sequenced by Jiang et al.[24], Xiang et al have analyzed and reported gene expression profiles for the sheep gastrointestinal tract[25]. Both studies focused on rumen metabolism and analyzed large intestine tissues for comparison. Our study provides new insights into the potential molecular mechanisms involved in regulation of sheep intestinal metabolism
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