Han Jilong, Ahmad Hafiz Ishfaq, Jiang Xunping, Liu Guiqiong
College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832000, People's Republic of China.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2019 Jul;51(6):1441-1447. doi: 10.1007/s11250-019-01821-5. Epub 2019 Feb 12.
Sperm storage function of the sperm storage tubules (SSTs) is directly correlated with the fertility of laying hens. SSTs are located at the utero-vaginal junction (UVJ) and infundibulum of the hen oviduct. However, little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for long-term sperm maintenance in the lumen of the SSTs. In this study, we profiled transcriptomes to detect the different gene expressions between infundibulum and UVJ using RNA-seq. As a result, we identified a total of 1382 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). GO analysis showed that fat acid metabolism, regulation of cell differentiation, regulation of transport, and immune response were enriched for these DEGs, and many of the pH-regulatory functions genes such as CAIV and SLC4A4 were highly expressed in UVJ, which inferred that SSTs could preserve sperm by regulating physiological functions in UVJ. Our results provide new insight to understand the specific function for SSTs to extend sperm life span in the oviduct of laying hens.
精子储存小管（SSTs）的精子储存功能与蛋鸡的繁殖力直接相关。SSTs位于母鸡输卵管的子宫 - 阴道交界处（UVJ）和漏斗部。然而，关于负责在SSTs管腔内长期维持精子的细胞和分子机制，我们知之甚少。在本研究中，我们使用RNA测序分析转录组，以检测漏斗部和UVJ之间不同的基因表达。结果，我们共鉴定出1382个差异表达基因（DEGs）。基因本体（GO）分析表明，这些DEGs在脂肪酸代谢、细胞分化调控、转运调控和免疫反应方面富集，并且许多pH调节功能基因，如CAIV和SLC4A4，在UVJ中高表达，这表明SSTs可能通过调节UVJ中的生理功能来保存精子。我们的结果为理解SSTs在蛋鸡输卵管中延长精子寿命的特定功能提供了新的见解。
