title: Transcriptome profile analysis of adipose tissues from fat and short-tailed sheep.
abstract: Recent studies in domestic animals have used RNA-seq to explore the transcriptome of different tissues in a limited number of individuals. In the present study, de novo transcriptome sequencing was used to compare sheep adipose tissue transcriptome profiles between a fat-tailed breed (Kazak sheep; KS) and a short-tailed (Tibetan sheep; TS). The RNA-seq data from these two groups revealed that 646 genes were differentially expressed between the KS and TS groups, including 280 up-regulated and 366 down-regulated genes. We identified genes relevant to fat metabolism in adipose tissues, including two top genes with the largest fold change (NELL1 and FMO3). Pathway analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes between the KS and TS breeds belong to fatty acid metabolism relevant pathways (e.g. fat digestion and absorption, glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism) and cell junction-related pathways (e.g. cell adhesion molecules) which contribute to fat deposition. This work highlighted potential genes and gene networks that affect fat deposition and meat quality in sheep.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
authors.forename: Guangxian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China; College of Pharmacy, Yancheng Teachers University, Yancheng, China.
authors.forename: Rongqing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Xining, China.
authors.forename: Jiping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
authors.forename: Yuxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoxia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China. Electronic address: chenyulin@nwafu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yulin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000662:veterinary; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D012756:Sheep / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013008:Somatotypes / Q000235:genetics; D013623:Tail; D059467:Transcriptome
keywords: Adipose tissue; Fat deposition; Fat-tail; Meat; RNA-seq; Sheep