Zhou Yuhe, Yao Xinkui, Meng Jun, Wang Jianwen, Zeng Yaqi, Li Linling, Ren Wanlu
College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China.
Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Equine Breeding and Exercise Physiology, Urumqi 830052, China.
Biology (Basel). 2025 Sep 17;14(9):1285. doi: 10.3390/biology14091285.
The Kazakh horse is a highly valuable indigenous Chinese breed known for its use in both milk and meat production. However, the mechanisms underlying color variation in the abdominal adipose tissue of this breed remain poorly understood. In this study, the sequencing of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) was conducted on abdominal adipose tissue of different colors from Kazakh horses, with the aim of investigating the molecular mechanisms responsible for this variation. A total of 205 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (DELncRNAs) including , , and ; 52 differentially expressed microRNAs (DEmiRNAs) including and ; and 559 differentially expressed circular RNAs (DEcircRNAs) including and , were identified between Group W and Group Y. GO annotation and KEGG enrichment analyses of the DEGs revealed that these genes were primarily involved in biological processes such as chemical homeostasis (biological process, BP), intracellular components (cellular component, CC), and iron-sulfur cluster binding (molecular function, MF) as well as in metabolic pathways related to lipid biosynthesis and metabolism including vitamin B6 metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and glycerolipid metabolism. The sequencing accuracy was further validated using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). This study identified key DEGs and signaling pathways associated with the color variation in adipose tissue of Kazakh horses and sheds light on the regulatory genes and biological processes involved. These findings provide a theoretical basis and research foundation for future studies on color variations in the adipose tissue of equine species.
哈萨克马是中国一种极具价值的本土品种，以用于产奶和产肉而闻名。然而，该品种腹部脂肪组织颜色变异的潜在机制仍知之甚少。在本研究中，对不同颜色哈萨克马的腹部脂肪组织进行了非编码RNA（ncRNA）测序，旨在探究导致这种变异的分子机制。在W组和Y组之间共鉴定出205个差异表达的长链非编码RNA（DELncRNAs），包括……；52个差异表达的微小RNA（DEmiRNAs），包括……；以及559个差异表达的环状RNA（DEcircRNAs），包括……。对差异表达基因（DEGs）的GO注释和KEGG富集分析表明，这些基因主要参与化学稳态（生物过程，BP）、细胞内成分（细胞成分，CC）和铁硫簇结合（分子功能，MF）等生物过程，以及与脂质生物合成和代谢相关的代谢途径，包括维生素B6代谢、色氨酸代谢和甘油脂质代谢。使用逆转录定量PCR（RT-qPCR）进一步验证了测序准确性。本研究确定了与哈萨克马脂肪组织颜色变异相关的关键DEGs和信号通路，并揭示了其中涉及的调控基因和生物过程。这些发现为未来马属动物脂肪组织颜色变异的研究提供了理论基础和研究依据。
