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Molecular insights into Pashmina fiber production: comparative skin transcriptomic analysis of Changthangi goats and sheep

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Abstract

Ladakh, one of the highest inhabited regions globally, hosts the unique Changthangi goat, renowned for producing Pashmina, the world’s most luxurious natural fiber. In comparison, the fiber derived from Changthangi sheep is considered next only to Pashmina. This research endeavors to compare the skin transcriptome profiles of Changthangi goats and Changthangi sheep, aiming to discern the molecular determinants behind the recognition of Changthangi goats as the source of Pashmina. Drawing upon previously conducted studies, a collective of 225 genes correlated with fiber characteristics were extracted from the differentially expressed genes noticed between the two species (p-value of ≤ 0.05 and a log2 fold change of ≥ 1.5). These genes were analyzed using DAVID software to understand their biological functions and to identify enriched KEGG and Reactome pathways. The protein-protein interaction networks were constructed using Cytoscape, cytoHubba, and STRING to focus on key genes and infer their biological significance. Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed significantly higher expression of genes involved in signaling pathways like Wnt, MAPK, PI3K-Akt, Hedgehog, associated with fiber development and quality in Changthangi goats. These pathways play crucial roles in hair follicle (HF) formation, maintenance of epidermal stem cells, and fiber characteristics. Findings also highlight the enrichment of cell adhesion molecules and ECM-receptor interaction, emphasizing their roles in HF structure, growth, and signaling. This investigation offers an in-depth understanding of the molecular intricacies governing Pashmina production in Changthangi goats, providing valuable insights into their unique genetic makeup and underlying mechanisms influencing the exceptional quality of Pashmina fibers.

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The data associated with this manuscript has been submitted in NCBI and accession numbers are mentioned in the manuscript.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the ICAR-Consortium Research Platform- Genomics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, India

    Sonika Ahlawat, Mahanthi Vasu, Reena Arora, Rekha Sharma, Pooja Chhabra & Upasna Sharma

  2. Mountain Research Centre for Sheep and Goat, SKUAST, Shuhama (Aulestang), Kashmir, India

    M.A. Mir

  3. ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Goats, Makhdoom, Mathura, India

    Manoj Kumar Singh

Authors
  1. Sonika Ahlawat
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  2. Mahanthi Vasu
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  3. M.A. Mir
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  4. Manoj Kumar Singh
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  5. Reena Arora
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  6. Rekha Sharma
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  7. Pooja Chhabra
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  8. Upasna Sharma
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Contributions

S.A. and R.A. conceived and designed research. M.V. conducted experiments. M.A.M. and M.K.S. contributed resources. P.C. and U.S. analyzed data. S.A. and R.S. wrote the manuscript. All authors approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sonika Ahlawat.

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Ahlawat, S., Vasu, M., Mir, M. et al. Molecular insights into Pashmina fiber production: comparative skin transcriptomic analysis of Changthangi goats and sheep. Mamm Genome (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-024-10040-9

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