• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.73-85
• /
• 2020

A high-cholesterol diet can reduce male fertility. However, it is not known whether a high-cholesterol diet can regulate the expression of genes involved in sperm maturation and sperm fertilizing ability. Quercetin, a natural product, is known to have cytoprotective effects by regulating lipid metabolism in various cell types. This study aimed to confirm the expression of genes involved in sperm maturation in the testes of mice fed a high-cholesterol diet and to determine whether quercetin can reverse the genetic regulation of cholesterol. Mice were divided into groups fed a normal chow diet and a high-cholesterol diet. Mice fed the high-cholesterol diet were dose-dependently supplemented with quercetin for 6 weeks. Investigations using quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization revealed that the high-cholesterol diet alters the expression of genes associated with sperm maturation in the testes of mice, and this was reversed with the supplementation of quercetin. In addition, the high-cholesterol diet regulated the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism in the liver of mice. Under a high-cholesterol diet, quercetin can improve male fertility by regulating the expression of genes involved in sperm maturation.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.149-160
• /
• 2019

This study examined the effects of different photoperiod conditions on olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), a commercially important species in Korea. Daily variations in the expression of mRNA for the growth-related genes arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase2 (AANAT2), preprosomatostatin1 (PSS1), and growth hormone (GH) were examined under a 12 h light:12 h dark photoperiod. All the genes were expressed at higher level during the dark period. Melatonin injections increased the expression of GH, but did not significantly affect the expression of PSS. Under short-day conditions (10 h:14 h), the fish gained more weight than under long-day conditions (14 h:10 h). A long nighttime induced melatonin secretion and increased the expression of GH mRNA, promoting weight gain in this species. Therefore, we thought that the long day condition in raising olive flounder may be effective in inducing body growth.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.21 no.4 s.55
• /
• pp.323-330
• /
• 2006

The aim of current study was to evaluate the toxicity of nonylphenol(NP) on soil nematode, Caenorhabditi elegans. The stress-related gene expression, growth, reproduction and development have been employed to monitor soil toxicity. The 24-h median effect concentrations $(LC_{50s})$ of NP was $0.15mg/L$. The expressions of vitellogenin-6, vitellogenin-2, cytochrome P450 family protein 35a2 and apoptosis enhancer-1 genes were upregulated in C. elegans by NP exposure. Alterations in growth, reproduction and development were also observed in NP-exposed group and especially hatching failure was observed. The overall results indicate that C. elegans has considerable potential as sensitive markers for NP toxicity monitoring.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.160-168
• /
• 2021

Doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor(dmrt) play crucial roles in sex determination and sex differentiation in vertebrates and invertebrates. Although dmrt genes have been identified in vertebrates, little is known about aquatic invertebrates. In this study, two dmrt genes, namely, Dc_dmrt93B and Dc_dmrt99B, were identified from brackish water flea, Diaphanosoma celebensis. Transcriptional changes were observed in the dmrt genes when the flea was exposed to bisphenol(BP), an endocrine disruptor. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that both dmrt genes contained two conserved domains, namely, DM and DMA, closely clustered with those of Daphnia spp. Additionally, a significant increase in the Dc_dmrt99B mRNA expression level was observed upon exposure to intermediate concentrations of BP (bisphenol A>bisphenol S=bisphenol F, p<0.05), while the expression of Dc_dmrt93B mRNA was slightly modulated. These findings imply that the two dmrt genes may be involved in sex differentiation of D. celebensis. Furthermore, it was found that the ability of BP to modulate dmrt genes could affect development and reproduction. This study provides a basis for understanding the function of the dmrt genes and the molecular mode of action of BP in small crustaceans.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.199-203
• /
• 2013

This experiment was conducted to investigate the genetic effects of candidate genes on the growth of spleen and liver tissues using dietary Curcuma longa (C. longa) supplementation. Expression analyses of candidate genes regarding animal growth was performed in order to determine the factors affecting the growth related to immune components of Curucumin, Turmerone, and Zingiberene as the bile secretion Paratolyl methyl carbinol (PTMC). The animals were divided into four groups of five chicks supplied with experimental diets of C. longa at 0.25, 0.5 and 1% and controls. The 19 growth-related genes were known to cell maturation, differentiation significant expression patterns in this analysis. Expression of growth response-related genes in chicks supplemented with 1% of C. longa showed better growth performance than chicks with 0.25 and 0.5% in spleen (p<0.05). The IGF1, MSTN, POU1F1, ADCYAP1 gene were known to central roles in mediating gonadotropin function, regulating steroidogenesis and promoting oocyte growth and maturation. Sex steroids, androgen and estrogen can affect sex differentiation and also can affect muscle development. On the other hand, GHSR and FABP3 gene showed significant expression patterns in this analysis. The results would be used as basic information for the variation of growth-related genes expression on the cell growth, sex cell growth, and sex hormones according to dietary supplementation with C. longa in chickens.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.304-311
• /
• 2015

Most follicles in the mammalian ovary undergo atresia. Granulosa cell apoptosis is a hallmark of follicle atresia. Our previous study using a microRNA (miRNA) microarray showed that the let-7 microRNA family was differentially expressed during follicular atresia. However, whether the let-7 miRNA family members are related to porcine (Sus scrofa) ovary follicular apoptosis is unclear. In the current study, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that the expression levels of let-7 family members in follicles and granulosa cells were similar to our microarray data, in which miRNAs let-7a, let-7b, let-7c, and let-7i were significantly decreased in early atretic and progressively atretic porcine ovary follicles compared with healthy follicles, while let-7g was highly expressed during follicle atresia. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis and Hoechst33342 staining demonstrated that let-7g increased the apoptotic rate of cultured granulosa cells. In addition, let-7 target genes were predicted and annotated by TargetScan, PicTar, gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathways. Our data provide new insight into the association between the let-7 miRNA family in granulosa cell programmed death.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.3.1-3.12
• /
• 2022

Background: Domestic yaks are the most important livestock species on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Adult female yaks normally breed in the warm season (July to September) and enter anestrous in the cold season (November to April). Nevertheless, it is unclear how ovarian activity is regulated at the molecular level. Objectives: The peculiarities of yak reproduction were assessed to explore the molecular mechanism of postpartum anestrus ovaries in yaks after pregnancy and parturition. Methods: Sixty female yaks with calves were observed under natural grazing in Haiyan County, Qinghai Province. Three yak ovaries in pregnancy and postpartum anestrus were collected. RNA sequencing and quantitative proteomics were employed to analyze the pregnancy and postpartum ovaries after hypothermia to identify the genes and proteins related to the postpartum ovarian cycle. Results: The results revealed 841 differentially expressed genes during the postpartum hypoestrus cycle; 347 were up-regulated and 494 genes were down-regulated. Fifty-seven differential proteins were screened: 38 were up-regulated and 19 were down-regulated. The differential genes and proteins were related to the yak reproduction process, rhythm process, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway categories. Conclusions: Transcriptome and proteomic sequencing approaches were used to investigate postpartum anestrus and pregnancy ovaries in yaks. The results confirmed that BHLHE40, SF1IX1, FBPX1, HSPCA, LHCGR, BMP15, and ET-1R could affect postpartum hypoestrus and control the state of estrus.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.361-369
• /
• 2018

The rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, is an important pathogen of rice plants. It is well known that genes encoded in the genome have different evolutionary histories that are related to their functions. Phylostratigraphy is a method that correlates the evolutionary origin of genes with evolutionary transitions. Here we applied phylostratigraphy to partition total gene content of M. oryzae into distinct classes (phylostrata), which we designated PS1 to PS7, based on estimation of their emergence time. Genes in individual phylostrata did not show significant biases in their global distribution among seven chromosomes, but at the local level, clustering of genes belonging to the same phylostratum was observed. Our phylostrata-wide analysis of genes revealed that genes in the same phylostratum tend to be similar in many physical and functional characteristics such as gene length and structure, GC contents, codon adaptation index, and level of transcription, which correlates with biological functions in evolutionary context. We also found that a significant proportion of genes in the genome are orphans, for which no orthologs can be detected in the database. Among them, we narrowed down to seven orphan genes having transcriptional and translational evidences, and showed that one of them is implicated in asexual reproduction and virulence, suggesting ongoing evolution in this fungus through lineage-specific genes. Our results provide genomic basis for linking functions of pathogenicity factors and gene emergence time.

• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
• /
• 2002.06a
• /
• pp.10-10
• /
• 2002

The low efficiency of animal production by nuclear transfer technique is considered to be result of an incomplete reprogramming of the donor cell nucleus, which leads to a lack of, or abnormal expression of developmentally important genes. There are a lot of genes related to embryo development and some of these genes are regulated by imprinting. IGF2 (insulin like growth factor 2) and IGF2R (IGF2 receptor) that play important roles in preimplantation development are included in imprinted genes also. (omitted)

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.339-347
• /
• 2011

Human eyelid adipose-derived stem cells (hEAs) and amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMs) are very valuable sources for the cell therapeutics. Both types of cells have a great proliferating ability in vitro and a multipotency to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes. In the present study, we evaluated their stem cell characteristics after long-time cryopreservation for 6, 12 and 24 months. When frozen-thawed cells were cultivated in vitro, their cumulative cell number and doubling time were similar to freshly prepared cells. Also they expressed stem cell-related genes of SCF, NANOG, OCT4, and TERT, ectoderm-related genes of NCAM and FGF5, mesoderm/endoderm-related genes of CK18 and VIM, and immune-related genes of HLA-ABC and ${\beta}$2M. Following differentiation culture in appropriate culture media for 2-3 weeks, both types of cells exhibited well differentiation into adipocyte, osteoblast, and chondrocyte, as revealed by adipogenic, osteogenic or chondrogenic-specific staining and related genes, respectively. In conclusion, even after long-term storage hEAs and hAMs could maintain their stem cell characteristics, suggesting that they might be suitable for clinical application based on stem cell therapy.