Based On RNA-seq Technology To Study The Seasonal Differences Of Gene Expression In Dog Badger Liver And White Adipose Tissue

Eurasian badgers,order Canivora,Genus Meles,are small and medium-sized burrowing animals.The species is widely distributed in Eurasian continent and has a strong environmental adaptability.Previous studies have shown seasonal differences in the physiological activities of badgers in both wild and captive environments.To understand the seasonal differences of badgers in terms of gene expression,transcriptome sequencing was performed on the liver and white adipose tissue of badgers in different seasons.The main results were as follows:(1)We used RNA-seq technology to perform transcriptome sequencing of liver and white adipose tissue of badgers in different seasons.After filtering the raw data,each sample had clean reads of 6.19 Gb to 8.63 Gb.After De nove assembly,we obtained a total of 254659 unigenes with N50 and average length of 2617 bp and 1115 bp,respectively.After functional annotation and analysis of unigenes,117165 unigenes were successfully annotated in the Nr database,accounting for 46% of the total unigenes,and 28428(11.16%)unigenes were annotated in all databases.GO annotation results show that 87358 unigenes are classified into three major categories:biological processes,cellular components,and molecular functions.The KEGG analysis showed that 69883 unigenes were annotated into 232 KEGG metabolic pathways.The KOG analysis showed that 43863 unigenes were classified into 26 KOG categories.(2)We used the DESeq program to screen for differentially expressed genes.We screened 405 differentially expressed genes(DEGs)from liver tissue,of which 225 DEGs were up-regulated in summer and 180 DEGs were up-regulated in winter.366 DEGs were screened from white adipose tissue,of which 210 DEGs were up-regulated in summer and 156 DEGs were up-regulated in winter.Based on DEGs,we analyzed the stress response of captive badgers in different seasons.We found that stress-related genes were up-regulated in summer,suggesting that captive badgers may face more stress in summer.(3)The results of GO functional enrichment analysis showed that the up-regulated genes in winter in liver were significantly enriched in GO terms such as fatty acid biosynthesis process,cellular ketone body metabolic process and ATP metabolism process.In white adipose tissue,the up-regulated genes in winter weresignificantly enriched in GO terms such as fatty acid metabolism process,fatty acid biosynthesis process and secretion.The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the up-regulated genes in winter in liver were significantly enriched in fatty acid biosynthesis,synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies,and glucagon signaling pathway.The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the up-regulated genes in winter in white adipose tissue were significantly enriched in fatty acid biosynthesis,insulin signaling pathway,adipocytokine signaling pathway and insulin resistance.The results indicated that captive badgers have some differences in energy metabolism,lipid metabolism and glucose regulation in different seasons.In this study,we obtained and annotated a large number of functional genes by transcriptome sequencing of badgers.In addition,we revealed the differences in stress response and metabolism of captive badgers in different seasons.The results of this study provide new insights into the understanding of mammalian adaptation to seasonal changes and provide scientific basis for the utilization of badgers.