Regulation Mechanism Of Selective Feeding On Bryophytes And Lichens In Reindeer

Reindeer is a large ruminant that lives in the circum Arctic region.In the harsh geographical environment of barren land,sparse vegetation,ice and snow cover,reindeer has formed its own unique biological characteristics through long-term evolutionary selection.It can adapt to the extreme day or night environment.It likes cold and dislikes heat.It has a sensitive sense of smell and is not resistant to roughage.Reindeer mainly feed on the vegetation in the Arctic tundra,especially on moss and lichen,which are essential for their life support.However,the regulatory Mechanism of reindeer on selective feeding of bryophytes and lichens is still unknown.Therefore,this study attempts to analyze the genome and transcriptome data of reindeer,dig out the genes closely related to reindeer's diet,establish the corresponding regulatory pathways,and carry out experimental verification by q RTPCR.The results are as follows:1.By comparing the gene families of reindeer,rat and sheep,this study found the unique gene families of reindeer species,and analyzed the genes in these gene families by GO enrichment.9 genes involved in the process of reindeer starvation stress and amino acid metabolism were screened out.2.Based on the results of gene family analysis,32307 homologous genes of reindeer,rat and sheep were identified,and 294 positive selection genes of reindeer were screened.These genes were analyzed by KEGG enrichment,and 12 genes in olfactory conduction,amino acid,carbohydrate and other nutrient transformation or metabolic pathways were screened.3.The main component analysis and differential expression analysis were carried out by using the reindeer transcriptional data,and the genes involved in the process of myocardial contraction,heat production and amino acid metabolism were screened out.The genes differentially expressed in the liver were analyzed by WGCNA,and 41 genes related to the specific characters of reindeer were obtained.4.Based on the above data analysis results,3 genes involved in branched chain amino acid metabolism were screened out(EHHADH,HADH and GLUD1).The expression of these 3 key genes in different tissues and cells of 4 kinds of animals were compared by q RT-PCR.Based on the above results,combined with molecular biology and biochemical analysis,the metabolic regulation pathway of branched chain amino acids in reindeer was established,which preliminarily revealed the molecular mechanism of selective consumption of bryophytes and lichens,and provided a reference for further understanding the genetic basis of reindeer feeding traits.