Genome Wide Screening of Candidate Genes for Improving Piglet Birth Weight Using High and Low Estimated Breeding Value Populations

Birth weight is an economically important trait in pig production because it directly impacts piglet growth and survival rate. In the present study, we performed a genome wide survey of candidate genes and pathways associated with individual birth weight (IBW) using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 BeadChip on 24 high (HEBV) and 24 low estimated breeding value (LEBV) animals. These animals were selected from a reference population of 522 individuals produced by three sires and six dam lines, which were crossbreds with multiple breeds. After quality-control, 43,257 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), including 42,243 autosomal SNPs and 1,014 SNPs on chromosome X, were used in the data analysis. A total of 27 differentially selected regions (DSRs), including 1 on Sus scrofa chromosome 1 (SSC1), 1 on SSC4, 2 on SSC5, 4 on SSC6, 2 on SSC7, 5 on SSC8, 3 on SSC9, 1 on SSC14, 3 on SSC18, and 5 on SSCX, were identified to show the genome wide separations between the HEBV and LEBV groups for IBW in piglets. A DSR with the most number of significant SNPs (including 7 top 0.1% and 31 top 5% SNPs) was located on SSC6, while another DSR with the largest genetic differences in F_ST was found on SSC18. These regions harbor known functionally important genes involved in growth and development, such as TNFRSF9 (tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 9), CA6 (carbonic anhydrase VI) and MDFIC (MyoD family inhibitor domain containing). A DSR rich in imprinting genes appeared on SSC9, which included PEG10 (paternally expressed 10), SGCE (sarcoglycan, epsilon), PPP1R9A (protein phosphatase 1, regulatory subunit 9A) and ASB4 (ankyrin repeat and SOCS box containing 4). More importantly, our present study provided evidence to support six quantitative trait loci (QTL) regions for pig birth weight, six QTL regions for average birth weight (ABW) and three QTL regions for litter birth weight (LBW) reported previously by other groups. Furthermore, gene ontology analysis with 183 genes harbored in these 27 DSRs suggested that protein, metal, ion and ATP binding, viral process and innate immune response present important pathways for deciphering their roles in fetal growth or development. Overall, our study provides useful information on candidate genes and pathways for regulating birth weight in piglets, thus improving our understanding of the genetic mechanisms involved in porcine embryonic or fetal development.     

X染色体变异对男性精神发育迟滞致病性的研究进展

精神发育迟滞(旧称智力低下)作为儿科神经科常见的一组疾患,具有高度的遗传和表型异质性,大约25%~50%的精神发育迟滞是由遗传因素引起的,其中X染色体基因/基因组变异占25%~30%,导致X连锁的精神发育迟滞。X连锁的精神发育迟滞患者占所有精神发育迟滞患者的10%~15％以上,约20%~25％的男性精神发育迟滞归因于X连锁的精神发育迟滞。精神发育迟滞男女患病比例为1.3:1,这与男性只有一条X染色体的遗传背景有关。随着新一代基因组检测技术的快速发展和临床应用,尤其是全外显子测序、高深度测序、X染色体深度测序和全基因组芯片杂交,这些大大改善了精神发育迟滞患者的X染色体基因/基因组变异检出。本文综述了致精神发育迟滞的X染色体基因组/基因变异特点、其对男性精神发育迟滞的致病性,以及如何采用新测序技术提高检出率,旨在促进科研人员认识X染色体变异在男性精神发育迟滞的致病性,拓宽精神发育迟滞遗传病因的认识,同时也为遗传咨询和产前诊断提供理论依据。     

不同月龄近交系五指山小型猪免疫器官的组织形态学

目的对不同月龄近交系五指山小型猪免疫器官组织特点进行观察,为其用于建立人类免疫相关疾病模型提供基础形态学资料。方法2、4和12月龄小型猪免疫器官被分别固定,常规石蜡切片、HE染色,光镜观察。结果4月龄前,胸腺内胸腺细胞和胸腺小体的数量均随年龄的增长逐渐增多;12月龄时,胸腺细胞数量有所减少,排列比较疏松,胸腺小体的数量和体积基本没有变化;2月龄时胸腺小体周围可见许多大小不同的空泡状细胞和细胞碎片。4月龄前,脾白髓动脉周围组织淋巴鞘和脾小结在也随年龄增长而逐渐增多增大,但12月龄时有所减少并维持在一定水平,其变化与大鼠和鸡的基本一致。2月龄淋巴结皮质靠内,髓质靠外,4月龄两者分界不明显,12月龄淋巴小结较大,淋巴细胞排列疏松,髓质内淋巴细胞较少,毛细血管增多。结论从整体结构上观察,近交系五指山小型猪免疫器官的组织学结构与人和其它哺乳动物之间没有明显的差异。     

X染色体连锁智力障碍遗传机制研究进展

x染色体连锁智力障碍（X-1inked intellectual disability,XUD）是一类位于x染色体上的基因发生突变引起的先天性智力障碍,所涉及的先天性智力障碍约占所有先天性智力障碍的15％。依据除了智力障碍外是否有其他生理方面的缺陷,XLID分为两类：S-XLID（syndromic forms）和NS．XLID（non-syndromic forms）。S-XLID表现在除了智力障碍外,还在新陈代谢方面、神经特征或者其他的体征——如骨骼、颅面部上有异常或者缺陷。该文对近年来XLID的致病机制研究进展作了部分阐述。     

QTL mapping for teat number in an Iberian-by-Meishan pig intercross

The aim of this study was to investigate chromosomal regions affecting the number of teats in pigs and possible epistatic interactions between the identified quantitative trait loci (QTL). An experimental F2 cross between Iberian and Chinese Meishan lines was used for this purpose. A genomic scan was conducted with 117 markers covering the 18 porcine autosomes. Linkage analyses were performed by interval mapping using an animal model to estimate QTL and additive polygenic effects. Complementary analyses with models fitting two QTL were also carried out. The results showed three genomewide significant QTL mapping on chromosomes 5, 10 and 12, whose joint action control up to 30% of the phenotypic variance of the trait. Meishan alleles had a positive additive effect on teat number, and a positive-additive x additive-epistatic interaction was detected between QTL on chromosomes 10 and 12.     

Loss of secreted hemolysin activity in the mutant strain Hsb. 1 is due to a lesion in a plasmid copy number locus

Further studies have been carried out on mutation hsb which was previously suggested to block hemolysin secretion (Mu?oa et al., 1988, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 56: 167-172). We show that the reported reduction in the extracellular hemolytic activity of mutant Hsb. 1 is due to lower hemolysin synthesis and that this is itself a consequence of a decrease in plasmid copy number. We suggest that the hsb is identical to the pcnB lesion located at minute 3.6 of the chromosome.     

Estimation of coancestry in Iberian pigs using molecular markers

Genetic markers provide a useful tool toestimate pairwise coancestry betweenindividuals in the absence of a known pedigree. Inthe present work 62 pigs from two relatedstrains of Iberian breed, Guadyerbas andTorbiscal, belonging to a conservationprogramme with completely known pedigrees since1945, have been genotyped for 49microsatellites. Four coefficients thatsummarise molecular resemblance betweenindividuals together with eightestimators of coancestry have been calculatedfrom this information. Their values werecompared with the genealogical coancestry,calculated from the complete or partialpedigree. The eight estimations obtained usingmolecular information substantiallyunderestimate the coancestry calculated usingthe genealogical analysis. The correlationbetween the estimates and the genealogicalvalues was also calculated. This correlationwas high, between 0.78 and 0.93 for differentestimators, when all pairwise comparisons amongthe 62 animals were considered. However, thecorrelation decreases remarkably to 0.49–0.69and 0.37–0.47 for the Guadyerbas and Torbiscalpopulations respectively, when they wereanalysed separately. All the correlations weresimilar to those obtained when using simplecoefficients of molecular resemblance such asmolecular coancestry or similarity indexes.Finally, simulations were carried out tofurther explore the results obtained. It isconcluded that lack of information on theallele frequencies in the base population mayexplain the bias of these estimators inpopulations with complex pedigrees.     

A comparison of the locomotor effects induced by centrally injected TRH and TRH analogues

Thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH) and its stable analogues CG3509 and RX77368 were injected directly into the nucleus accumbens, septum and striatum of the rat and locomotor activity was recorded. TRH (5-20 micrograms) caused a dose-dependent increase in locomotor activity when injected into the nucleus accumbens. TRH (20 micrograms) also increased locomotor activity after administration into the septum but not when put into the striatum. Both the TRH analogues (0.1 and 1.0 microgram) produced closely related increases in activity when injected into either the nucleus accumbens or septum but CG3509 was more potent with a longer lasting effect. Also, in contrast with TRH (20 micrograms), both TRH analogues stimulated locomotor activity when injected into the striatum at a dose of 1 microgram but the effect was less marked and delayed in onset compared to the nucleus accumbens and septum response. Dopamine (100 micrograms) injected into the accumbens or septum also produced significant increases in locomotor activity. The locomotor effects of the peptides are discussed in relation to a possible dopamine-mediated mechanism which contrasts with the actions of TRH and the analogues on barbiturate anaesthesia.     

转基因猪中外源基因拷贝数和整合位点的研究

主要采用了绝对定量PCR和热不均一交错PCR(thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR,TAIL-PCR),检测了体细胞核移植技术生产的绿色荧光蛋白转基因猪中外源基因拷贝数和整合位点,并利用旁侧PCR(Junction PCR)对整合位点进行确定,同时进一步分析了整合位点的纯合性．结果表明,绝对定量PCR可以准确有效地检测外源基因拷贝数,标准曲线为：log₂N (拷贝数) =-0.935 4ΔCt + 3.411 6 (R²=0.997 4,P < 0.001),两只转基因猪中外源基因拷贝数分别为30.85 ± 1.77和18.87 ± 1.34;TAIL-PCR能成功地克隆转基因猪中外源基因整合位点,得到25条特异性条带,经BLAST比对,共获得TgInS1 (1 440 bp)、TgInS2 (1 263 bp)和TgInS3 (1 861 bp) 3个整合位点．以整合位点侧翼序列特异性引物与外源基因特异性引物的组合引发Junction PCR,得到预计大小的特异性片段,确定了整合位点上、下游侧翼序列的准确性．采用整合位点5′上游和3′下游侧翼序列特异性引物与外源基因特异性引物的组合,进行Junction PCR,在两只转基因猪中都得到与野生型猪一致的侧翼序列特异性引物扩增片段,表明我们获得的转基因猪都为整合位点杂合子．初步建立了绝对定量PCR和TAIL-PCR对外源基因拷贝数和整合位点检测的体系,为今后研究外源基因在转基因猪中遗传和表达的稳定性打下了基础．     

Estimation of genetic variability of the founder population in a conservation scheme using microsatellites

In a conservation programme with genealogical records it is possible to estimate the amount of variability of the founder population from a measure of the similarity among the individuals in the current population based on microsatellite markers. Here we compare three available methods and we shown that the one based on the molecular coancestry coefficient should be preferred.     

Schizophrenia and the neurodevelopmental continuum:evidence from genomics

The idea that disturbances occurring early in brain development contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, often referred to as the neurodevelopmental hypothesis, has become widely accepted. Despite this, the disorder is viewed as being distinct nosologically, and by implication pathophysiologically and clinically, from syndromes such as autism spectrum disorders, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and intellectual disability, which typically present in childhood and are grouped together as “neurodevelopmental disorders”. An alternative view is that neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia, rather than being etiologically discrete entities, are better conceptualized as lying on an etiological and neurodevelopmental continuum, with the major clinical syndromes reflecting the severity, timing and predominant pattern of abnormal brain development and resulting functional abnormalities. It has also been suggested that, within the neurodevelopmental continuum, severe mental illnesses occupy a gradient of decreasing neurodevelopmental impairment as follows: intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Recent genomic studies have identified large numbers of specific risk DNA changes and offer a direct and robust test of the predictions of the neurodevelopmental continuum model and gradient hypothesis. These findings are reviewed in detail. They not only support the view that schizophrenia is a disorder whose origins lie in disturbances of brain development, but also that it shares genetic risk and pathogenic mechanisms with the early onset neurodevelopmental disorders (intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders and ADHD). They also support the idea that these disorders lie on a gradient of severity, implying that they differ to some extent quantitatively as well as qualitatively. These findings have important implications for nosology, clinical practice and research.