Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #294555
Title: A global view of the transcriptional profiling of adipose tissue in Chinese Qinchuan cattle using RNA sequencing

Author
item ZHOU, YANG - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University
item SUN, JIAJIE - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University
item Li, Congjun - Cj
item WNAG, YANHONG - Xuzhou Normal University
item CAI, HANFANG - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University
item LAN, XIANYONG - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University
item LEI, CHUZHAO - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University
item CHE, HONG - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University

Submitted to: PLoS Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/4/2014
Publication Date: 7/1/2014
Citation: Zhou, Y., Sun, J., Li, C., Wnag, Y., Cai, H., Lan, X., Lei, C., Che, H. 2014. A global view of the transcriptional profiling of adipose tissue in Chinese Qinchuan cattle using RNA sequencing. PLoS Genetics. 9(7):el101261.

Interpretive Summary: Adipose tissue, or fat, plays a critical function in energy storage for the animal. Adipose tissue also produces important hormones and signaling molecules required for normal animal health. To better understand adipose tissue development of cattle throughout their lifetime, a molecular biology technique known as RNA sequencing was used to profile the expression of genes in adipose tissue isolated from fetal cattle and heifers, steers, and bulls at different stages of growth. The results revealed many functional genes expressed in adipose tissue that may play important roles in immune function, inflammation, and energy and protein metabolism. This study provides novel information for further study and benefits the cattle research community.

Technical Abstract: To better understand the molecular mechanisms of adipose tissue development, we constructed a transcriptional profiling of adipose tissue by RNA sequencing. Samples were collected from Chinese Qinchuan fetuses, as well as adult heifers, bulls, and steers. We unambiguously detected a substantial number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), novel transcript units (NTUs), and splice variants. The expression profile of adipose tissue changed considerably from fetuses to adults, whereas smaller differences were detected between the adipose tissues of adult cows (ATACs). As an endocrine organ, DEGs related to the immune process and inflammation were significantly enriched in the ATACs. These genes may play roles in gender-related regulatory mechanisms. In addition, adipose tissue exhibited abundant expression of genes related to the function of mitochondria and ribosomes. These findings suggest that adipose tissue is an extremely active tissue for energy and protein metabolism in addition to the storage of surplus fuel. In this study, about two-thirds of the NTUs were non-coding. In total, about 18.2% of the genes in adipose tissues were alternatively spliced, and half had differential expression patterns. Taken together, our study provides a complete dataset involving the spatial and temporal transcriptome of bovine adipose tissue, which provides essential information for further study.