title: Genetically regulated hepatic transcripts and pathways orchestrate haematological, biochemical and body composition traits.
abstract: The liver is the central metabolic organ and exhibits fundamental functions in haematological traits. Hepatic expression, haematological, plasma biochemical, and body composition traits were assessed in a porcine model (n = 297) to establish tissue-specific genetic variations that influence the function of immune-metabolism-correlated expression networks. At FDR (false discovery rate) <1%, more than 3,600 transcripts were jointly correlated (r = |0.22-0.48|) with the traits. Functional enrichment analysis demonstrated common links of metabolic and immune traits. To understand how immune and metabolic traits are affected via genetic regulation of gene expression, eQTLs were assessed. 20517 significant (FDR < 5%) eQTLs for 1401 transcripts were identified, among which 443 transcripts were associated with at least one of the examined traits and had cis-eQTL (such as ACO1 (6.52 × 10-7) and SOD1 (6.41 × 10-30). The present study establishes a comprehensive view of hepatic gene activity which links together metabolic and immune traits in a porcine model for medical research.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit 'Functional Genome Analysis', Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Siriluck
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ponsuksili
authors.affiliation: Research Unit 'Genomics', Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Nares
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Trakooljul
authors.affiliation: Research Unit 'Functional Genome Analysis', Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Frieder
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hadlich
authors.affiliation: Research Unit 'Functional Genome Analysis', Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Fiete
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haack
authors.affiliation: Research Unit 'Genomics', Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Murani
authors.affiliation: Research Unit 'Genomics', Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wimmers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006405:Hematology; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D000072105:Superoxide Dismutase-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000072105:Superoxide Dismutase-1