Ovarian transcriptomic analysis of Shan Ma ducks at peak and late stages of egg production

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess the differences in ovarian transcriptomes in Shan Ma ducks between their peak and late stages of egg production, and to obtain new transcriptomic data of these egg-producing ducks.MethodsThe Illumina HiSeq 2000 system was used for high throughput sequencing of ovarian transcriptomes from Shan Ma ducks at their peak or late stages of egg production.ResultsGreater than 93% of the sequencing data had a base quality score (Q score) that was not less than 20 (Q20). From ducks at their peak stage of egg production, 42,782,676 reads were obtained, with 4,307,499,083 bp sequenced. From ducks at their late stage of egg production, 45,316,166 reads were obtained, with 4,562,063,363 bp sequenced. A comparison of the two datasets identified 2,002 differentially expressed genes, with 790 upregulated and 1,212 downregulated. Further analysis showed that 1,645 of the 2,002 differentially expressed genes were annotated in the non-redundant (NR) database, with 646 upregulated and 999 downregulated. Among the differentially expressed genes with annotations in the NR database, 696 genes were functionally annotated in the clusters of orthologous groups of proteins database, involving 25 functional categories. One thousand two hundred four of the differentially expressed genes with annotations in the NR database were functionally annotated in the gene ontology (GO) database, and could be divided into three domains and 56 categories. The three domains were cellular component, molecular function, and biological process. Among the genes identified in the GO database, 451 are involved in development and reproduction. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes with annotations in the NR database against the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes database revealed that 446 of the genes could be assigned to 175 metabolic pathways, of which the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway, insulin signaling pathway, fructose and mannose metabolic pathways, gonadotropin releasing hormone signaling pathway and transforming growth factor beta signaling pathway were significantly enriched.ConclusionThe differences in ovarian transcriptomes in Shan Ma ducks between their peak and late stages of egg production were elucidated, which greatly enriched the ovarian transcriptomic information of egg-producing ducks.

Ovarian transcriptomic analysis and follicular development of Leizhou black duck

“…Therefore, duck breeders in recent times have aimed at the ovary to explore and examine egg production and differentially expressed genes ( DEG ) that regulate egg production ( Zhu et al., 2017 ; Asiamah Amponsah et al., 2019 ). The functional unit of the ovary is the ovarian follicles which contain oocytes that may be ovulated, fertilized to form an embryo that has been used as a study material to enhance reproduction in poultry ( Wu et al., 2016a ; Han et al., 2016 ; Gan et al., 2017 ; Zhu et al., 2017 ; Cui et al., 2019 ; Shen et al., 2019 ). The development process of poultry ovarian follicles undergoes a series of complex processes which include recruitment, selection, dominance, growth, and maturation before ovulation ( Regan et al., 2018a ).…”

“…The development of genomic and transcriptomic studies of the ovaries has aided to expound mechanisms underlying reproductive physiology and to identify DEG in the ovary. Several studies have been done to identify specific ovarian genes in livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, yaks, and pigs ( Lan et al., 2014 , 2016 ; Chen et al., 2015 ; Zhang et al., 2015 ; Zhao et al., 2015 ; Miao et al., 2016 ) and poultry ( Luan et al., 2014 ; Ding et al., 2015 ; Tao et al., 2017 ; Zhu et al., 2017 ). In Jinding ducks ovary, 5 of the DEG, melanocortin 5 receptor, apolipoprotein D, ORAI calcium release-activated calcium modulator 1, dual-specificity tyrosine-(Y)-phosphorylation regulated kinase 4, and G protein–regulated inducer of neurite outgrowth 2 were confirmed to significantly play roles in reproductive activities and egg production ( Tao et al., 2017 ).…”

Comparative Transcriptome Profiling of Ovary Tissue between Black Muscovy Duck and White Muscovy Duck with High- and Low-Egg Production

“…Improving egg production ability is an important breeding objective. With traditional breeding methods, the reproductive performance of laying duck has been gradually improved but more significant improvements have been slow [ 1 ]. Ovary is a female reproductive organ, which is closely related to egg-laying characteristics and the ovarian function of poultry directly affects the egg production [ 2 ].…”

Nutritional requirements of meat-type and egg-type ducks: what do we know?

“…In addition, many studies have aimed to improve the main egg-type breed of ducks (Longyan laying ducks), important for several reasons, viz. : medium size (1.2–1.3 kg), early maturation (110 d), high egg yield (more than 280 eggs/yr), huge populations (more than 300 million birds), adaptation to high ambient temperature, and resistance to disease [ 2 , 5 , 6 ]. However, the recommendations of the National Research Council 1994 (NRC1994) [ 7 ] for approving the development of a new strain of meat-type ducks, however, defined their nutritional requirements based on 40-year-old data, or on results obtained in other species.…”