Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS B2N 5E3, Canada.
Genes (Basel). 2022 Feb 3;13(2):297. doi: 10.3390/genes13020297.
A global population of already more than seven billion people has led to an increased demand for food and water, and especially the demand for meat. Moreover, the cost of feed used in animal production has also increased dramatically, which requires animal breeders to find alternatives to reduce feed consumption. Understanding the biology underlying feed efficiency (FE) allows for a better selection of feed-efficient animals. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), especially micro RNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), play important roles in the regulation of bio-logical processes and disease development. The functions of ncRNAs in the biology of FE have emerged as they participate in the regulation of many genes and pathways related to the major FE indicators, such as residual feed intake and feed conversion ratio. This review provides the state of the art studies related to the ncRNAs associated with FE in livestock species. The contribution of ncRNAs to FE in the liver, muscle, and adipose tissues were summarized. The research gap of the function of ncRNAs in key processes for improved FE, such as the nutrition, heat stress, and gut-brain axis, was examined. Finally, the potential uses of ncRNAs for the improvement of FE were discussed.
目前全球人口已超过 70 亿，这导致人们对食物和水的需求增加，尤其是对肉类的需求增加。此外，动物生产中所用饲料的成本也大幅增加，这就要求动物饲养者寻找替代品来减少饲料消耗。了解饲料效率（FE）的生物学基础可以更好地选择饲料效率高的动物。非编码 RNA（ncRNA），尤其是 microRNAs（miRNAs）和 long non-coding RNA（lncRNAs），在生物过程的调控和疾病的发展中发挥着重要作用。ncRNA 在 FE 生物学中的功能已经显现出来，因为它们参与了许多与主要 FE 指标（如剩余饲料摄入量和饲料转化率）相关的基因和途径的调控。本文综述了与家畜 FE 相关的 ncRNAs 的最新研究进展。总结了 ncRNA 对肝脏、肌肉和脂肪组织中 FE 的贡献。并探讨了 ncRNA 在改善 FE 的关键过程（如营养、热应激和肠-脑轴）中的功能的研究空白。最后，讨论了 ncRNA 在提高 FE 方面的潜在用途。
