Baoshan pigs (BS) are a local breed in Yunnan Province that may face inbreeding owing to its limited population size. To accurately evaluate the inbreeding level of the BS pig population, we used ...whole-genome resequencing to identify runs of homozygosity (ROH) regions in BS pigs, calculated the inbreeding coefficient based on pedigree and ROH, and screened candidate genes with important economic traits from ROH islands. A total of 22,633,391 SNPS were obtained from the whole genome of BS pigs, and 201 ROHs were detected from 532,450 SNPS after quality control. The number of medium-length ROH (1-5 Mb) was the highest (98.43%), the number of long ROH (>5 Mb) was the lowest (1.57%), and the inbreeding of BS pigs mainly occurred in distant generations. The inbreeding coefficient
, calculated based on ROH, was 0.018 ± 0.016, and the
, calculated based on the pedigree, was 0.027 ± 0.028, which were positively correlated. Forty ROH islands were identified, containing 507 genes and 891 QTLs. Several genes were associated with growth and development (
,
,
1,
), meat quality traits (
,
,
,
,
,
), and reproductive traits (
,
,
). This study provides a reference for the protection and utilization of BS pigs.
The production of semen in boars involves multiple reproductive glands, including the testis (Tes), epididymis (Epi), vesicular gland (VG), prostate gland (PG), and bulbourethral gland (BG). However, ...previous studies on boar reproduction primarily focused on the testis, with little attention paid to the other glands. Here, we integrated single-molecule long-read sequencing with short-read sequencing to characterize the RNA landscape from five glands of Banna mini-pig inbred line (BMI) and Diannan small-ear pigs (DSE). We identified 110,996 full-length isoforms from 22,298 genes, and classified the alternative splicing (AS) events in these five glands. Transcriptome-wide variation analysis indicated that the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in five tissues of BMI was significantly lower than that in the non-inbred pig, DSE, revealing the effect of inbreeding on BMI. Additionally, we performed small-RNA sequencing and identified 299 novel miRNAs across all glands. Overall, our findings provide a comprehensive overview of the RNA landscape within these five glands, paving the path for future investigations on reproductive biology and the impact of inbreeding on pig transcriptome.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an important method of breeding quality varieties, expanding groups, and preserving endangered species. However, the viability of SCNT embryos is poor, and the ...cloned rate of animal production is low in pig. This study aims to investigate the gene function and establish a disease model of Banna miniature inbred pig. SCNT with donor cells derived from fetal, newborn, and adult fibroblasts was performed, and the cloning efficiencies among the donor cells were compared. The results showed that the cleavage and blastocyst formation rates did not significantly differ between the reconstructed embryos derived from the fetal (74.3% and 27.4%) and newborn (76.4% and 21.8%) fibroblasts of the Banna miniature inbred pig (P>0.05). However, both fetal and newborn fibroblast groups showed significantly higher rates than the adult fibroblast group (61.9% and 13.0%; P<0.05). The pregnancy rates of the recipients in the fetal and newborn fibroblast groups (60% and 80%, respectively) were higher than those in the adult fibroblast group. Eight, three, and one cloned piglet were obtained from reconstructed embryos of the fetal, newborn, and adult fibroblasts, respectively. Microsatellite analyses results indicated that the genotypes of all cloning piglets were identical to their donor cells and that the genetic homozygosity of the Banna miniature inbred pig was higher than those of the recipients. Therefore, the offspring was successfully cloned using the fetal, newborn, and adult fibroblasts of Banna miniature inbred pig as donor cells.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•DEGs of buffalo with high, medium and low milk fat contents have been anlyzed.•DEGs involved in milk protein, fat synthesis and immune response.•DEGs enhanced understanding of the interplay between ...milk fat and immune response.
Milk fat is the most important energy substance in milk and contributes to its quality and health benefits. Water buffalo milk is well known for its high milk quality with higher fat contents compared with cattle milk. Dehong buffalo is a unique local swamp breed in Yunnan Province with higher milk fat and excellent milk quality which provides a good model for the investigation of the molecular mechanisms of milk fat deposition. In this study, we used RNA-seq to obtain mammary tissue transcriptomics of buffalo with different milk fat phenotypes including high(H), medium (M)and low (L) fat content groups. Comparative analyses of buffalo among three groups yielded differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Analyzing the number of different genes among H_VS_L, H_VS_M, and M_VS_L showed the same expression pattern between H_VS_M. The increasing expression levels of genes including CSN1S1, BTN1A1, LALBA, ALDH1L2, SCD and MUC15, and down-regulated expression levels of genes containing CCL2, CRABP2, ADTRP, CLU and C4A in H_VS_L and M_VS_L were found. GO and KEGG enriched pathways revealed these DEGs involved in milk protein and fat as well as immune response. The findings would enhance the understanding of the interplay between the milk composition and immune response, which suggests that the immune capacity should be considered when we tried to improve the milk quality.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
To investigate the effects of pathogenic Escherichia coli high pathogenicity island (HPI) on the expression of inflammatory factors via ubiquitin proteasome pathway. Firstly, the UBC-sus-263 shRNA ...plasmid was successfully established and transfected into porcine small intestine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) by liposome to silence the ubiquitinntion gene. Then the IPEC-J2 was infected with E. coli HPI+ and HPI− strains, respectively. Finally, the mRNA of intracellular NF-κB and IκB-α,and the protein levels of NF-κB, IκB-α, TNF-α and IL-1 in IPEC-J2 cell line transfected with UBC-sus-263 shRNA (Ub-shRNA) were detected. The results showed that the Ub-shRNA was effectively inhibited ubiquitination pathway in the IPEC-J2 cell. After infected with HPI+, the mRNA and protein levels of NF-κB and IκB-α were dramatically decreased in Ub-hsRNA transfected IPEC-J2 cells compared to the control and HPI−-infected groups. Consistently, the production of downstream cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1 were highly expressed after HPI+-infection than that of HPI−-infected groups. However, whether the HPI+ or HPI−, both could induce increasingly expression of NF-κB and IκB-α and its downstream cytokines in normal IPEC-J2 cells. Thus, the E. coli HPI can upregulate the expression of IκB-α to promote the releasing of TNF-α and IL-1 via the ubiquitination pathway.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
ABSTRACT High pathogenicity island (HPI), a critical genomic element of pathogenic Yersiniabactin (Ybt) carries out synthesis, regulation, transportation as well as virulence. As a virulent ...determinant for the E. coli, the role of HPI in Saba pig was explored to provide some perspective about disease association. This is the first study in which 44 E. coli superior serotype strains were isolated and identified from Yunnan Saba pigs. The genomic DNA of all isolated superior serotypes of E. coli was obtained. Five major high pathogenicity island (HPI) structural genes (irp1, irp2, irp3, irp4 and irp5) were cloned, sequenced and referenced with GenBank database. The sequence identities of irp1, irp2, irp3, irp4 and irp5 with GenBank were 98 %, 99 %, 99 %, 98 %, and 99 %, respectively. Forty"four E. coli isolates characterized similarity with enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), Y. pestis and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). The secondary and tertiary structures of high molecular weight proteins (HMWPs), encoded by five structural genes, were predicted using bioinformatics tools. These proteins had differences in random curls, α"helix and slight amount of β"sheet. After validation, 10 iron deficient isolates expressed the ferritin HMWPs similar to those of Yersinia. Later on, Kunming mice were infected with E. coli HPI+ and HPI"strains, respectively for the histopathology examination. The higher organ damage was observed by E. coli HPI+ than HPI"strain in mice. This study postulates the predicted protein structures of major genes, and validates the HMWP expression under iron starvation and provides a theoretical basis for prevention and treatment of E. coli related diseases.
Social support is an important factor for individual's mental health. However, the association between social support and depressive symptoms among physicians in China' tertiary hospitals has not ...been explored. This study aimed to investigate its association among physicians stratifying by sex.
Six hundred fifty-six physicians were enrolled from 12 tertiary hospitals of Shandong Province, China. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Social support was evaluated using the Social Support Rating Scale. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between social support and depressive symptoms among physicians.
The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 42.3% and the average social support score was 38.82 ± 7.53 among physicians. Lower subjective social support scores (male: β = - 0.317, p < 0.001; female: β = - 0.241, p < 0.001) and lower objective social support scores (male: β = - 0.218, p = 0.038; female: β = - 0.277, p = 0.035) were associated with high depressive symptoms among physicians. Lower support utilization scores (β = - 0.472, p < 0.001) were associated with high depressive symptoms among male physicians.
Chinese physicians had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms and lower social support than the Chinese general population. Objective and subjective social support were inversely associated with depressive symptoms among male and female physicians while support utilization was inversely associated with depressive symptoms among male rather than female physicians. It is critical to improve physicians' mental health through strengthening social support in China.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The nuclear pore complex profoundly affects the timing of flowering; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we report that
(
) acts as a negative regulator of long-day ...photoperiodic flowering in Arabidopsis (
). Through multiple approaches, we identified the E3 ubiquitin ligase HIGH EXPRESSION OF OSMOTICALLY RESPONSIVE GENE1 (HOS1) and demonstrated its interaction in vivo with Nup96. Nup96 and HOS1 mainly localize and interact on the nuclear membrane. Loss of function of
leads to destruction of HOS1 proteins without a change in their mRNA abundance, which results in overaccumulation of the key activator of long-day photoperiodic flowering, CONSTANS (CO) proteins, as previously reported in
mutants. Unexpectedly, mutation of
strikingly diminishes Nup96 protein level, suggesting that Nup96 and HOS1 are mutually stabilized and thus form a novel repressive module that regulates CO protein turnover. Therefore, the
and
single and
double mutants have highly similar early-flowering phenotypes and overlapping transcriptome changes. Together, this study reveals a repression mechanism in which the Nup96-HOS1 repressive module gates the level of CO proteins and thereby prevents precocious flowering in long-day conditions.
The interaction between farrerol and calf thymus DNA in a pH 7.4 Tris-HCl buffer was investigated with the use of neutral red (NR) dye as a spectral probe by UV–vis absorption, fluorescence, and ...circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, as well as viscosity measurements and DNA melting techniques. It was found that farrerol molecules could intercalate into the base pairs of DNA as evidenced by decreases in iodide quenching effect and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) quenching effect, induced CD spectral changes, and significant increases in relative viscosity and denaturation temperature of DNA. Furthermore, the spectral data matrix of the competitive reaction between farrerol and NR with DNA was resolved with an alternative least-squares (ALS) algorithm, and the concentration profiles in the reaction and the corresponding pure spectra for three species (farrerol, NR, and DNA–NR complex) were obtained. This ALS analysis demonstrated the intercalation of farrerol to the DNA by substituting for NR in the DNA–NR complex. Moreover, the thermodynamic parameters enthalpy change (ΔH°) and entropy change (ΔS°) were calculated to be −16.49 ± 0.51 kJ mol–1 and 32.47 ± 1.02 J mol–1 K–1 via the van’t Hoff equation, which suggested that the binding of farrerol to DNA was driven mainly by hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds.
Full text
Available for:
IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
•Alginate/NaCas-coated zein nanoparticles were prepared by a pH-driven method.•Effects of the alginate/NaCas ratio on the structure of nanoparticles were studied.•All the tested nanoparticles showed ...good stabilities under different environments.•Higher ratios of alginate led to greater encapsulation efficiency of curcumin.•Encapsulation of curcumin in nanoparticles prolonged its gastrointestinal release.
In this study, core-shell biopolymer nanoparticles were fabricated for the encapsulation and delivery of curcumin using a pH-driven method. The influences of the coating composition on the physicochemical properties and curcumin release characteristics of the core-shell nanoparticles were studied. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses indicated that curcumin was encapsulated in an amorphous state inside the nanoparticles. Particle size and ζ-potential measurements indicated that the biopolymer nanoparticles were relatively stable under different environmental conditions: long term storage, heating, pH changes and salt. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of the curcumin was increased after encapsulation within the nanoparticles, whereas the gastrointestinal release of curcumin was prolonged. These results were attributed to the ability of alginate and NaCas to form a thick layer around the nanoparticles, which increased the steric and electrostatic repulsion between them, as well as inhibiting the release of curcumin.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP