Analysis of genetic information from the antlers of Rangifer tarandus (reindeer) at the rapid growth stage

Abstract

Reindeer is the only deer species in which both males and females regularly grow antlers, providing an excellent model for studying the rapid growth and annual regeneration of antlers. The study of genetic information from reindeer is the basis for revealing the unique mechanism of antler growth. In the present study, we obtained 18.86 GB of clean reads, which were assembled to obtain 94,575 unigenes (average length: 704.69). Among these reads, 30,980 sequences were identified by searching a database of known proteins and then annotated with Gene Ontology (GO) terms, Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG) classifications and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. All 7,480 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were detected. A total of 84,435 and 82,226 highquality single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in male and female reindeer, respectively. We identified 31 genes that were highly expressed in reindeer antlers. These genes regulate cell activities that are closely associated with the process of rapid tissue growth. Our results provide a basis for studying reindeer antlers and for further studying the molecular genetics, population genetics, and functional genomics of reindeer.

Use of the Phylobone database for the annotation of bone extracellular matrix proteins in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

“… 1 The availability of these sequences may be important for understanding bone regeneration, 4 as reindeer are capable of developing antlers in male and female individuals. 12 These data highlight the importance of further research on reindeer biology and genetics to gain a better understanding of bone (and antler) formation and resorption in these animals. It also demonstrates the capacity of Phylobone to be used as a tool for the pre-annotation of new proteomes.…”

Integrative Analyses of Antler Cartilage Transcriptome and Proteome of Gansu Red Deer (Cervus elaphus kansuensis) at Different Growth Stages

“…High neuralization and vascularization are important tissue characteristics of the velvet antler [ 43 ]. The velvet antler enters the rapid growth stage from the beginning to about 60 days [ 44 ]. At the rapid growth stage, the growth rate of the velvet antler reaches 2 cm/d.…”

Bioactive Molecular Discovery Using Deer Antlers as a Model of Mammalian Regeneration

“…Transcriptome sequencing is the most common approach employed outside proteomics for the discovery of bioactive molecules from deer antler, and has been used with reindeer, red, fallow, and sika deer. In reindeer, which is the only deer species to have antlers grow in both the male and female, transcriptome comparison of the reserve mesenchyme layer (Figure C) from both genders detected thirty-one highly differentially expressed genes including signal transduction molecules PTN and MDK , transcription factors RUNX2 and SOX9 , extracellular matrix proteins LGALS1 and members of the collagen family . RNA-seq of the velvet skin of red deer antler tip detected the growth factors TMSB10 and TPT1 as potentially important in velvet skin regeneration .…”

“…In reindeer, which is the only deer species to have antlers grow in both the male and female, transcriptome comparison of the reserve mesenchyme layer (Figure 1C) from both genders detected thirty-one highly differentially expressed genes including signal transduction molecules PTN and MDK, transcription factors RUNX2 and SOX9, extracellular matrix proteins LGALS1 and members of the collagen family. 155 RNA-seq of the velvet skin of red deer antler tip detected the growth factors TMSB10 and TPT1 as potentially important in velvet skin regeneration. 156 In addition, transcriptome analysis of antlers from two red deer subspecies, i.e., Cervus elaphus songaricus and Cervus elaphus yarkandensis, revealed the possible molecular mechanisms underlying the high yield of antler in the latter species.…”