Reproduction and breeding最新文献

This research aims to identify the hub genes associated with the senescence of triploid caudal fin cells. Transcriptomic data are obtained from the high and low generation (P6, P60) of triploid crucian carp caudal fin cells by high-throughput sequencing technology. Initially, all differential genes between the high and low generations are screened, yielding 4140 significantly upregulated genes and 3724 significantly downregulated genes. Subsequently, an aging gene set containing 950 genes is downloaded from the CellAge database to extract the differentially expressed genes associated with caudal fin cell aging, totaling 29 genes. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses are performed on these 29 aging differential genes. The GO analysis shows enrichment mainly in cellular processes related to aging, such as regulation of cell division, chromatin organization, cell cycle regulation. KEGG analysis reveals that the 29 aging-related genes are primarily involved in cell cycle and cellular senescence pathways. A PPI network of aging-related genes is constructed using the STRING database and Cytoscape software. Top-ranked genes were identified by using Degree, MCC, MNC, and Closeness algorithms in the Cytohubba plugin in Cytoscape, resulting in hub genes EZH2, JUN, MYD88, RBL2, BMP4, CCND1, NFKB2, MMP9. Lastly, qRT-PCR validation of these eight hub genes further confirmed the involvement of four genes: EZH2, RBL2, BMP4, and CCND1. The hub gene screened in this study may become a potential biomarker of fish caudal fin cell senescence, which provides a valuable experimental basis for the senescence of fish caudal fin cells, especially the senescence of caudal fin cells in polyploid fish, and the reproduction and breeding improvement of polyploid fish. It also provides meaningful data for elucidating the molecular mechanism of polyploid formation in animals, as well as the formation of aging and tumour in human beings.

Aquatic animals are an important source of food for humans, yet little is known about their potential to transfer zoonotic viruses. Multiple recent cases of SARS-CoV-2 from cold-chain aquatic food and environmental samples has evoked worldwide concerns, and even though these cases pale in comparison to poultry and livestock. To investigate the potential threat of food from aquatic animals, we map their transcriptomes to the genomes of human respiratory- and intestine-related viruses. Analyses only find an influenza virus sequence in a salmon (Salmo salar) skin transcriptome. BLAST and phylogenetic analyses identify this sequence as influenza A, and this likely owes to contamination from a worker. Thus, when prepared properly, aquatic animals can provide great nutritional benefits to humans while posing minimal health risks.

The Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (L. vannamei) is an economically important species worldwide. As females exhibit a faster growth rate than males, it is crucial to understand the mechanism of sex determination and differentiation for the purpose of mono-sex breeding in shrimp. The feminization-1 gene (Fem-1) serves as a sex-determining gene in Caenorhabditis elegans, and the Fem-1 family is implicated in sex development in several crustaceans. In this study, three Fem-1 family members, namely LvFem-1a, LvFem-1b, and LvFem-1c, were identified and characterized in L. vannamei. Based on genetic sex marker, individuals were separated by sex during the early developmental stages. The expression profiles of these genes were analyzed in female or male larvae. Significant differences between females and males were observed during the early stages of development. In Zoea III or earlier stages, the expressions levels in males were significantly higher than those in females. Intriguingly, there was a shift towards higher expression in females during the mysis and post-larval stages. These findings indicate that the Zoea III stage may be crucial for sex differentiation in shrimp. In addition, the analysis of gene expression across various ovarian stages and tissues was conducted. Results showed that all three genes were highly expressed in the ovary, with particularly elevated levels in ovarian development stage II. These findings suggest that the Fem-1 genes play a critical role in early ovary development. This study is the first research focusing on the sex-specific expression of sex differentiation genes in shrimp. The obtained results provide new insights into to the role of the Fem-1 gene family in sex differentiation and gonadal development.

Gut microbiome plays an important role in host's development and reproduction. Lotus-fish co-culture (LFC) is a popular integrated agriculture–aquaculture farming system in China. However, there is still a relative dearth of information on how changes of aquaculture modes will affect the fish gut microbiome. In the present study, metagenomic sequencing was used to compare gut bacteria of the hybrid fish Hefang crucian carp (Carassius cuuieri ♀ × C. auratus var. red ♂) cultured in LFC and intensive pond culture (IPC) systems. The results indicated that aquaculture modes exerted great influences on the fish gut bacterial community. A significantly higher gut bacterial diversity was found in LFC than that in IPC (P < 0.05). The relative abundances of Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi were apparently higher in LFC than those in IPC, whereas Planctomycetota, Firmicutes, and Verrucomicrobia showed opposite patterns. Besides, gut bacterial metabolic potentials involved in energy metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, environmental information processing, and cellular processes were significantly increased in LFC compared to those in IPC. On the contrary, the bacterial functional potentials related to nucleotide metabolism, DNA mismatch repair, as well as homologous recombination were significantly stimulated in the IPC system. Source‐tracking analysis suggested that fish gut bacterial community in IPC was originated mainly from water sources, whereas the gut bacterial community in LFC was originated from more unknown sources and soil sources. Our results provided new insight into the influence of aquaculture modes on the microbial community diversity and functionality in aquatic animals and highlighted the importance of environment microbiome in reshaping the gut microbes.

The kisspeptin system, which involves hypothalamic neuropeptides, plays pivotal roles in the regulation of teleost reproduction. A previous study suggested that the kiss2/kissr2 system in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) was involved in regulating gonadal development through the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis. However, whether the kiss2/kiss2r system directly regulates the activity of pituitary gland were not studied. This study aimed to elucidate the detailed mechanism of kisspeptin-induced effects on gonadotropin hormone-producing cells in vivo and in vitro. In situ hybridization analysis revealed very widespread expression of kiss2r mRNA in the optic tectum, hypothalamus and pituitary. In the pituitary, kiss2r-expressing cells were mainly located in the proximal pars distalis and pars intermedia, among which the fshβ- and lhβ-positive cells exhibited expression of kiss2r messengers. Furthermore, primary culture of pituitary cells and peptide administration experiments revealed that the Kiss2-10 peptide stimulates the expression of fshβ and lhβ and the secretion of FSH and LH in 24 h. In addition, histology analysis revealed that three injections of the Kiss2-10 peptide promoted ovary development and increased oocyte size but had little effect on testis development. These results suggested that the intrapituitary kisspeptinergic system, as a hypophysiotropic neuropeptide factor, directly modulates of gonadotroph function. This study will help uncover the reproductive endocrinology network and improve artificial breeding technology for largemouth bass.

The human mammary gland is the major organ involved in lactation. In the mammary gland, alveoli secrete milk and myoepithelial cells contract to propel the milk through branched structures called ducts and eventually to the nipple. It is through this process of lactation that infants receive milk, which is essential for proper infant growth and development. The lactation process is comprised of sophisticated interactive networks at the cellular level that are not well understood. Whereas the majority of published mammary gland lactation studies have relied on mouse mammary glands, recent advancements in techniques to study mammary glands enable in vitro reproduction of lactation using human-representative frameworks. Currently, the 3D breast organoid is the state-of-the-art model in human mammary gland research, utilizing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) or processed patient-derived breast tissues embedded in a special matrix that are then able to grow into complex structures that recapitulate aspects of native human breast tissue. Gaining comprehensive biological insight into the process of lactation through these breast tissue-mimetic 3D models is essential for further studies on lactation-associated human mammary gland diseases, human milk composition, and potential solutions to challenges in maternal milk accessibility. In this short review, the benefits and potential utility of 3D breast organoids in understanding the underlying science of lactation and advancing further human mammary gland studies are discussed.

A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to investigate the influence of glutathione (GSH) on growth performance, lipid metabolism and muscle quality of hybrid crucian carp (initial body weight: 15.03 ± 0.11 g) fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Five experimental diets were prepared in this study: the control diet (6.17% fat), HFD (12.37% fat), and HFD with 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg GSH supplementation, respectively. The results indicated that feeding HFD to hybrid crucian carp remarkably reduced weight gain rate (WGR), specific growth rate (SGR), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activities of serum and liver, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities of liver, but significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content of liver compared to the control group. After adding 200–600 mg/kg GSH to HFD, the WGR, SGR, as well as serum and liver T-AOC activity of hybrid crucian carp increased significantly. Moreover, the supplementation of 400 mg/kg GSH significantly increased the activities of T-SOD, catalase (CAT) of serum and liver, as well as the GSH-Px, glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and GR of liver, but decreased MDA content of serum and liver compared to the HFD. The HFD significantly increased muscle crude lipid, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) contents and fiber diameter, but decreased chewiness, gumminess, hardness and fiber density compared to the control group. The addition of 400–600 mg/kg GSH significantly increased muscle chewiness, gumminess, hardness, and decreased muscle fiber diameter of HFD-fed hybrid crucian carp. Meanwhile, the addition of 200–600 mg/kg GSH significantly reduced the mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) content and increased the PUFA content of muscle compared to the HFD. The HFD significantly up-regulated the expression of lipid synthesis genes (dgat2 and srebp1) and down-regulated the expression of lipolysis genes (lpl, hsl and acox1) of liver compared to the control group. The addition of 400–600 mg/kg GSH significantly decreased the expression of lipid synthesis genes (dgat2 and srebp1) and increased the expression of lipolysis genes (hsl, lpl, acox1 and pparα) of HFD-fed hybrid crucian carp. This study demonstrated that GSH effectively ameliorated the decline of growth performance and muscle quality of hybrid crucian carp caused by HFD, and reduced the risk of liver lipid deposition of hybrid crucian carp by regulating the expression of genes related to liver lipid metabolism.

The common carp (Cyprinus carpio L., COC, 2n = 100) is one of the most widely consumed and distributed freshwater fish in the world. It ranks fourth in total freshwater aquaculture volume in various regions of China, behind Ctenopharyngodon idella, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, and Aristichthys nobilis. However, in recent years, environmental degradation, inbreeding, disordered breeding, and other adverse effects have caused problems such as low seed quality and poor disease and stress resistance of the carp. In our laboratory, we developed two types of improved diploid carp the hybrid F₁ of common carp (♀) × blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala, BSB, 2n = 48) (♂). To investigate the differences between IDC and IDMC compared to COC, in this study we compared the relevant characteristics of these two types of improved carp with those of COC in terms of muscle nutrient composition, intermuscular bone type, and number. The results showed that among the muscle nutrients, IDC had a higher protein content (18.50%) and lower carbohydrate content (0.70%). In addition, the unsaturated fatty acid content of IDC (3.45%) and IDMC (1.25%) were significantly higher than that of COC (P < 0.05) (0.50%). For monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid (OA, C18:1 n-9) and linoleic acid (PA, C16:1), the content of IDC and IDMC were also abundant. In terms of intermuscular bone morphology, the morphology and type of intermuscular bone in IDC and IDMC medullary arch ossicles were consistent with those of COC. However, the number of intermuscular bones was different, and the average number of intermuscular bones of IDMC decreased by 14.77% (P < 0.05) compared with COC. The advantages of IDC and IDMC are different, with IDC having a higher value of muscle nutrients and IDMC having a lower intermuscular bone content. The distant hybridization of common carp (♀) × blunt snout bream (♂) developed two improved diploid carp varieties with excellent traits, which added carp germplasm resources with high muscle nutrition and lower intermuscular bone, and provided theoretical support for their production application.

The present study used hybrid fish (Megalobrama amblycephala ♀ × Culter alburnus ♂, abbreviated as BT) and topmouth culter (Culter alburnus, abbreviated as TC) as research subjects to assess and compare the effects of carbohydrate on the growth, oxidative stress and glucolipid metabolism of the two fish. The TC (initial weight, 13.10 ± 0.10 g) and BT (initial weight, 12.85 ± 0.13 g) were fed isonitrogenous (43% crude protein) and isolipidic (6.5% crude lipid) diets with carbohydrate levels of 10% (LC diet) and 30% (HC diet) for 11 weeks, respectively. The results showed that the HC diet resulted in a significant decrease in specific growth rate (SGR) of both fish. However, the SGR in BT was significantly higher than in TC, regardless of diet. Furthermore, HC diet significantly increased serum alanine transaminase (GPT) and hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) content, decreased hepatic catalase (CAT) activity and resulted in increased hepatocyte volume, nucleus deficiency and nucleus deviation from the center of cytoplasm in both fish. However, BT had significantly higher glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and lower serum GPT and aspartate transaminase (GOT) content compared to TC. The HC diet induced significant increases in hepatosomatic index (HSI), liver lipid droplet area, liver glycogen, serum glucose (GLU) and triglyceride (TG) content in both fish. However, HSI and lipid droplet area were significantly higher in BT than in TC, while serum GLU and TG content were significantly lower in BT than in TC. Both fish can adapt to the HC diet by up-regulating the expression of glycolysis-related gene (glucokinase (gk)) and lipogenesis-related genes (acetyl-CoA carboxylase a (acca), fatty acid synthase (fas)). However, the expression levels of glucose transporter 2 (glut2), glycolysis-related gene (phosphofructokinase liver b (pfklb)) and lipogenesis-related genes (sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (srebp1), ATP citrate lyase a (aclya)) were increased only in BT fed HC diet. In summary, the BT liver has stronger glucose transport, glycolysis, and lipid tolerance compared to TC, thus exhibiting better glucose homeostasis and growth performance. It indicates that hybridization may help to produce new strain of fish with high carbohydrate utilization capacity.

MnSOD is a ubiquitous metalloenzyme that constitutes the first line of antioxidant defense against oxidative stress. In this study, full length sequence of MnSOD was identified from hybrid crucian carp (WR, Carassius cuvieri ♀ × Carassius auratus red var ♂). Tissue-specific analysis revealed that the highest expression of WR-MnSOD was detected in kidney. Aeromonas hydrophila challenge could dramatically enhance WR-MnSOD mRNA expression in tissues. In vivo administration of purified WR-MnSOD peptide could maintain gut mucosal barrier function, rescue redox balance as well as decrease apoptotic cell death in midgut upon bacterial infection, suggesting that WR-MnSOD is playing a crucial role in gut mucosal barrier function and could be used as feed additive to improve gut immunity in fish.