ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, 132001, Haryana, India.
Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 12;9(1):5993. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42513-2.
The expression of genes and their regulation during lactation in buffaloes remains less understood. To understand the interplay of various genes and pathways, the milk transcriptome from three lactation stages of Murrah buffalo was analyzed by RNA sequencing. The filtered reads were mapped to the Bubalus bubalis as well as Bos taurus reference assemblies. The average mapping rate to water buffalo and Btau 4.6 reference sequence, was 75.5% and 75.7% respectively. Highly expressed genes (RPKM > 3000), throughout lactation included CSN2, CSN1S1, CSN3, LALBA, SPP1 and TPT1. A total of 12833 transcripts were common across all the stages, while 271, 205 and 418 were unique to early, mid and late lactation respectively. Majority of the genes throughout lactation were linked to biological functions like protein metabolism, transport and immune response. A discernible shift from metabolism in early stage to metabolism and immune response in mid stage, and an increase in immune response functions in late lactation was observed. The results provide information of candidate genes and pathways involved in the different stages of lactation in buffalo. The study also identified 14 differentially expressed and highly connected genes across the three lactation stages, which can be used as candidates for future research.
水牛泌乳期基因表达及其调控仍知之甚少。为了了解各种基因和途径的相互作用，我们通过 RNA 测序分析了摩拉水牛泌乳期三个阶段的乳转录组。过滤后的读数被映射到印度野牛和牛 Taurus 参考组装上。水牛奶牛和 Btau 4.6 参考序列的平均映射率分别为 75.5%和 75.7%。在整个泌乳期高度表达的基因（RPKM>>3000）包括 CSN2、CSN1S1、CSN3、LALBA、SPP1 和 TPT1。共有 12833 个转录本在所有阶段都通用，而 271、205 和 418 个转录本分别仅在早期、中期和晚期泌乳期中特有。大多数在整个泌乳期的基因都与蛋白质代谢、运输和免疫反应等生物学功能有关。从早期的代谢到中期的代谢和免疫反应，以及后期的免疫反应功能增加，都观察到了明显的转变。研究结果为水牛泌乳期不同阶段涉及的候选基因和途径提供了信息。该研究还鉴定了在三个泌乳阶段均有差异表达和高度连接的 14 个基因，它们可以作为未来研究的候选基因。
