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Histological analysis and identification of spermatogenesis-related genes in 2-, 6-, and 12-month-old sheep testes

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Abstract

Testis development and spermatogenesis are vital factors that influence male animal fertility. In order to identify spermatogenesis-related genes and further provide a theory basis for finding biomarkers related to male sheep fertility, 2-, 6-, and 12-month-old Small Tail Han Sheep testes were selected to investigate the dynamic changes of sheep testis development. Hematoxylin-eosin routine staining and RNA-Seq technique were used to perform histological and transcriptome analysis for these testes. The results showed that 630, 102, and 322 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in 2- vs 6-month-old, 6- vs 12-month-old, and 2- vs 12-month-old testes, respectively. GO and KEGG analysis showed the following: DEGs in 2- vs 6-month-old testes were mainly related to the GO terms of sexual maturation and the pathways of multiple metabolism and biosynthesis; in 6- vs 12-month-old testes, most of the GO terms that DEGs involved in were related to metabolism and translation processes; the most significantly enriched pathway is the ribosome pathway. The union of DEGs in 2- vs 6-month-old, 6- vs 12-month-old, and 2- vs 12-month-old testes was categorized into eight profiles by series cluster. Subsequently, the eight profiles were classified into four model profiles and four co-expression networks were constructed based on the DEGs in these model profiles. Finally, 29 key regulatory genes related to spermatogenesis were identified in the four co-expression networks. The expression of 13 DEGs (CA3, APOH, MYOC, CATSPER4, SYT6, SERPINA10, DAZL, ADIPOR2, RAB13, CEP41, SPAG4, ODF1, and FRG1) was validated by RT-PCR.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the Jilin Sheng Hua Animal Husbandry Co. Ltd. for providing the experimental animals and Shanghai NovelBio Bio-Pharm Technology Co. Ltd. for help with the RNA-sequencing.

Funding

This work was supported by Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Project (20160204018NY), Jilin Province Modern Sheep Industry Technology System Project, and Jilin Province Department of Education“12th Five-Year” Science and Technology Development Project (No. 2015186).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China

    Man Bai, Limin Sun, Jia Zhao, Lujie Xiang, Xiaoyin Cheng, Jiarong Li, Chao Jia & Huaizhi Jiang

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  1. Man Bai
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  2. Limin Sun
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  3. Jia Zhao
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  4. Lujie Xiang
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  5. Xiaoyin Cheng
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  6. Jiarong Li
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  7. Chao Jia
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  8. Huaizhi Jiang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huaizhi Jiang.

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Ethics statement

The methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines from the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China. All experimental protocols were approved by the Jilin Laboratory Animal Specialized Committee.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Bai, M., Sun, L., Zhao, J. et al. Histological analysis and identification of spermatogenesis-related genes in 2-, 6-, and 12-month-old sheep testes. Sci Nat 104, 84 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-017-1505-1

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