title: Transcriptome Analysis Reveals that Vitamin A Metabolism in the Liver Affects Feed Efficiency in Pigs.
abstract: Feed efficiency (FE) is essential for pig production. In this study, 300 significantly differentially expressed (DE) transcripts, including 232 annotated genes, 28cis-natural antisense transcripts (cis-NATs), and 40 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), were identified between the liver of Yorkshire pigs with extremely high and low FE. Among these transcripts, 25 DE lncRNAs were significantly correlated with 125 DE annotated genes at a transcriptional level. These DE genes were enriched primarily in vitamin A (VA), fatty acid, and steroid hormone metabolism. VA metabolism is regulated by energy status, and active derivatives of VA metabolism can regulate fatty acid and steroid hormones metabolism. The key genes of VA metabolism (CYP1A1,ALDH1A2, andRDH16), fatty acid biosynthesis (FASN,SCD,CYP2J2, andANKRD23), and steroid hormone metabolism (CYP1A1,HSD17B2, andUGT2B4) were significantly upregulated in the liver of high-FE pigs. Previous study with the same samples indicated that the mitochondrial function and energy expenditure were reduced in the muscle tissue of high-FE pigs. In conclusion, VA metabolism in liver tissues plays important roles in the regulation of FE in pigs by affecting energy metabolism, which may mediate fatty acid biosynthesis and steroid hormone metabolism. Furthermore, our results identified novel transcripts, such ascis-NATs and lncRNAs, which are also involved in the regulation of FE in pigs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yunxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Changzhi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuanxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shuhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China xyli@mail.hzau.edu.cn.|Key Laboratory of Swine Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China xyli@mail.hzau.edu.cn.|The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China xyli@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xinyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: Feed efficiency; liver; pig; vitamin A metabolism