Proteomic analysis of wanxi white goose testicles in different reproductive stages by data-independent acquisition (DIA) strategy

Wanxi white goose is an important male parent in crossbreeding of Chinese geese, but its short reproductive cycle restricts its application in Northeast China. Therefore, understanding the potential mechanism of breeding period regulation in Wanxi white goose will help to provide more options for crossbreeding. In this study, the reproductive period was divided into prophase (T1), metaphase (T2) and anaphase (T3) according to the laying rhythm of geese. Based on this, testicular tissues were stained and further analyzed by DIA proteomics. A total of 69577 Unique spectra, 70325 Unique peptides and 6275 proteins were identified. Among them, various differentially expressed proteins were enriched to metabolism-related pathways. Furthermore, trend analysis was performed based on the differentially expressed proteins in which four significant differences of protein expression trends were obtained. Additionally, the PPI protein network analysis helped us to further locate the core genes, such as CDC42, RAC2, IFT81, CSTF2, MRPS35 and BIRC5. Finally, we detected the protein expression of SOX9, RAC1, RhoA and Lyn, which was significantly correlated with the sequencing results. Generally, in this study, several genes and proteins involved in developmental biology and metabolic pathways were involved in the reproductive regulation of Wanxi white goose, which will lay a foundation for us to further study the reproductive regulation of Wanxi white goose.