Search for Polymorphism in Exon 2 of the Equine Leptin Gene

The aim of the current research was to investigate the possible occurrence of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in exon 2 of the equine leptin gene in obese mares determined to be hyperleptinemic. Three experiments were conducted: one to determine the prevalence of hyperleptinemic horses in the resident herd; another to complete the sequencing of exon 2 and flanking introns of the equine leptin gene, which had been partially sequenced by others; and a third to compare the exon 2 sequences of obese, hyperleptinemic mares with those of obese mares not displaying hyperleptinemia. In experiment 1, jugular blood was collected from 31 mares, and they were categorized by age, body condition score (BCS), and average plasma leptin concentrations. Mean BCS was correlated (P < .001) with leptin concentrations; age was not. Five obese, hyperleptinemic and five obese, nonhyperleptinemic mares were selected to study the possibility of polymorphism in exon 2. First, in experiment 2, forward and reverse primers were designed from the Bos taurus leptin gene (GenBank Accession # U50365) to identify and subsequently clone the equine leptin gene to provide material for sequencing. The multiple copies of genomic DNA were then used for sequencing of exon 2 and the flanking introns. Comparative genomics was used to further identify and characterize regulatory elements in the 5' and 3' flanking regions of the leptin gene. In experiment 3, DNA from the five mares of each type (previously selected in experiment 1) was extracted, and exon 2 was sequenced and analyzed for possible SNP. The sequences of exon 2 for the 10 mares were identical; thus, no polymorphism was present. It was concluded that approximately one third of obese, pasture-maintained mares and geldings in the resident herd display hyperleptinemia relative to other horses of similar body condition, but this condition was not associated with the occurrence of SNP in exon 2 of the leptin gene.     

牛肌肉生长抑制素基因单核苷酸多态性分析

应用PCR-SSCP分析方法,对94头肉牛(公牛45头:西门塔尔34头,夏洛来11头;母牛49头:西门塔尔24头,夏洛来25头)的肌肉生长抑制素(MSTN)3个外显子进行了多态性分析.结果显示,第1外显子存在2种基因型,分别为AA型和AB型.经测序发现,第1外显子4 bp处存在C→G的碱基突变,导致编码的氨基酸由谷氨酰胺(Gln)→谷氨酸(Glu).统计结果表明,等位基因B的含量低,而且只在西门塔尔品种内含0.026 6.利用SPSS软件作最小二乘分析,结果表明,B等位基因与西门塔尔牛的成年体质量和犊牛出生体质量呈显著正相关.     

猪RBP1和RBP4基因的定位、组织表达谱分析、多态研究及相关分析

类维生素A（维生素A及其代谢产物）在动物的视觉、生长、繁殖、细胞的分化及胚胎发育等方面起重要的作用。利用猪的辐射杂种克隆板，将猪细胞视黄醇结合蛋白基因1（RBP1）和猪血浆视黄醇结合蛋白基因4（RBP4）分别定位在猪13号和14号染色体上。利用半定量RT－PCR方法，对这两个基因在成年五指山猪十二种不同组织（肺、骨骼肌、脾、心脏、胃、大肠、淋巴结、小肠、肝、大脑、肾、脂肪）的组织表达谱进行了分析。在猪的血浆视黄醇结合蛋白基因4中，发现一个单核苷酸多态位点（RBP4-A/G156），并用基于聚合酶链式反应的限制性片段长度多态性方法(PCR-RFLP)，对这一多态在莱芜黑猪、五指山小型猪、贵州小型猪、广西巴马小型猪和通城实验猪群中的分布进行了研究。在通城实验猪群中，进行了不同基因型与性状间的关联分析，发现其不同的基因型与胴体直长、胴体斜长、血红蛋白浓度、平均血细胞血红蛋白量、达上市体重日龄高度相关。在猪的生产和育种中，这一多态位点可能会成为有用的分子标记。     

农用核苷酸的开发进展

本文对核苷酸在农业上的开发应用进行了综述,介绍了农用核苷酸的生产工艺、作用机理及在不同场合下的应用功效。在对粮食作物、果蔬、茶叶等多种农作物及经济作物上进行试验的结果表明,核苷酸可以较明显地改善作物的品质、提高产量及抗病能力,具有很好的研究及推广应用前景。     

Characterization of single‐nucleotide polymorphism markers in the Mediterranean mussel,Mytilus galloprovincialis

The Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, is one of the most important aquaculture species in Europe. Appropriate molecular markers are required to evaluate genetic resources and to trace genealogies in breeding programmes for improving mussel culture. Microsatellites have been commonly applied to this purpose in other species. However, Mediterranean mussel microsatellites have demonstrated high frequencies of null alleles that hamper accurate estimates of population parameters and confident parentage inferences. As alternative markers, we have characterized in silico 25 potential single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in the Mediterranean mussel from expressed sequence tag (EST) public databases. The genotyping of SNPs was performed using a single‐base extension approach. Their polymorphism was evaluated in 47 individuals from an Atlantic population. Out of the 25 potential SNPs tested, 12 were technically feasible (producing a single amplicon) and polymorphic. All were biallelic and had an unbiased heterozygosity ranging from 0.160 to 0.504. One SNP was from a mitochondrial gene. The combined potential of nuclear SNPs for parentage assignment gave an exclusion probability of a false couple of parents of 0.9471. These markers will be useful for evaluating resources and tracing genealogies in genetic breeding programmes implemented to solve the main problems of mussel culture.     

Characterization of MicroRNA* Species in Peking Duck Skin

A substantial fraction of miRNA* species are conserved in animals and can repress activities of target genes. This study aims to investigate the miRNA* species in duck skin by using Solexa sequencing. We obtained a total of 96 miRNA* species in two skin small RNA libraries and identified 56 miRNA/miRNA* (miR/miR*) pairs. Nucleotide bias of miRNA* indicated that the priority was C>A>U>G for the first nucleotide and U>C>A>G for the last nucleotide. Comparison analyses showed that 3′-U accounted for a higher proportion in the 56 miR/miR* pairs. Among the top 20 expressed miRNA* species, 17 were shared by two libraries and most of the miRNA* species were highly conservative, especially in the “seed region”. miR-199a* were expressed highly in our samples, which was also previously shown abundant in mouse hair follicle. Furthermore, four miRNA* species were predicted to target their genes in signal pathways of feather follicle development and feather morphogenesis despite very low levels.     

The occurrence of taste buds in adults of the terrestrial ceacilian Boulengerula boulengeri Tornier, 1898 (Lissamphibia: Gymnophiona: Herpelidae)

Two generations of gustatory organs occur during amphibian ontogeny in frogs and salamanders (Anura and Caudata), and are classified as taste buds or taste discs. Taste buds are present in larval forms, whereas taste discs are typical for adults. The little research done on Gymnophiona suggests that only taste buds are present in aquatic forms (larvae and adults), and adults of the only terrestrial species studied had taste buds. Here we investigate the nature of gustatory organs in a terrestrial caecilian, Boulengerula boulengeri (Herpelidae), from Tanzania using standard light and scanning electron microscopy. We found only taste bud type organs to be present in B. boulengeri. These occur mainly in the mucosa of the front part of the oral cavity, usually near the teeth. Our results suggest that B. boulengeri possesses only one type of gustatory organ during its ontogeny.     

中国荷斯坦牛PIK3CB基因多态性及其与繁殖和产奶性状的关联分析

【目的】 探究磷脂酰肌醇-4,5-二磷酸3-激酶催化亚单位β（PIK3CB）基因多态性及其与中国荷斯坦牛繁殖和产奶性状的关系。【方法】 通过混池测序对中国荷斯坦牛PIK3CB基因进行单核苷酸多态性（SNP）位点筛选,采用竞争性等位基因特异性PCR （KASP）技术在1 160头健康泌乳中国荷斯坦牛中进行SNP分型并进行群体遗传学分析,采用线性模型进行SNP与11个繁殖和产奶性状基于单位点和单倍型组合的关联分析。【结果】 在PIK3CB基因中共检测到了17个SNPs,筛选出7个SNPs用于后续分析。关联分析发现,7个SNPs与多个目标性状存在显著或极显著的关联（P<0.05;P<0.01）;位于外显子区域的g.130433743 A>G位点AA基因型个体和位于可变剪接区域的g.130448069 G>A位点GG基因型个体,其经产牛首末次配种间隔、产奶量、乳蛋白量和乳脂量最低,体细胞评分最高,上述基因型个体具有较短的首末次配种间隔,而产奶性能相对较差;g.130387717 G>A位点AA基因型个体,其初配日龄和青年牛首末次配种间隔最低,产奶量、乳蛋白量和乳脂量最高,该基因型个体的繁殖和产奶性能均较好,上述3个SNPs位点可作为中国荷斯坦牛繁殖和产奶性状的候选位点重点关注。单倍型分析发现,PIK3CB基因的g.130387717 G>A、g.130430832 A>－、g.130433743 A>G、g.130433982 C>T、g.130446073 C>T和g.130448069 G>A 6个SNPs紧密连锁形成一个单倍型块,且与多个目标性状存在显著或极显著关联（P<0.05;P<0.01）,其中H2H3和H2H4单倍型组合个体的繁殖和产奶性能较好,为优势单倍型组合。【结论】 中国荷斯坦牛PIK3CB基因存在丰富的遗传变异,其多态性与繁殖和产奶性状存在关联,g.130433743 A>G、g.130448069 G>A和g.130387717 G>A位点可作为潜在分子标记,为中国荷斯坦牛的平衡育种提供理论依据。     

五指山猪和杜洛克猪全基因组选择信号差异分析

旨在探究五指山猪和杜洛克猪免疫和脂质代谢相关基因的选择信号差异。本研究从海南国家级五指山猪保种场采集30头4月龄健康(10公,20母)五指山猪的耳组织进行全基因组重测序(whole genome sequencing,WGS),从NCBI数据库下载29头杜洛克猪全基因组重测序数据(SRA：PRJNA378496);通过生物信息学方法分析59个样本WGS数据的单核苷酸多态性(single nucleotide polymorphism,SNPs),进行SNPs过滤,定位SNPs在基因组的位置,分析其结构特征和基因型频率,并注释对应基因的功能;使用XP-CLR方法筛选五指山猪基因组受到强烈选择的区域,分析两个品种相关通路基因的功能差异。结果表明,五指山猪平均每个样本共筛选到36 961 902个SNPs位点,内含子区域分布最多,平均每个样本16 729 364个,约占45.26%,编码区(起始、终止密码子)平均有2 073个SNPs;五指山猪受选择的基因组区域主要集中在免疫、代谢和神经功能相关通路;免疫反应通路中,9个基因(TGFBR2、IL26、IL15、BMPR2、TNFSF15、TNFSF4、TNFSF8、ACKR4、TNFRSF11B)功能区域SNPs位点在五指山猪中只存在一种突变纯合基因型,而在杜洛克猪大部分个体中存在3种基因型(野生纯合基因型、杂合子、突变纯合基因型),其中野生纯合基因型比例最高;脂类代谢通路中,关键调节基因IRS2、PRKG1、ADCY5的基因型频率与免疫反应基因类似。在五指山猪中突变纯合基因型比例为100%,在杜洛克猪中野生纯合基因型所占比例为48%~93%(14/29-27/29)。本研究筛选出与五指山猪免疫性状相关的候选基因9个、与脂类代谢相关的候选基因3个,发现五指山猪免疫、代谢和神经功能相关基因的受选择程度强于杜洛克猪,为揭示五指山猪特色性状形成的分子机制提供参考。