在发育后期，如遇到不适宜的环境条件，果实极易发生开裂。裂果严重影响果实的生产和销售。本研究利用混池转录组测序（BSR- seq）技术发掘到番茄果实开裂的关键调控基因。研究通过BSR-Seq鉴定到与不规则裂果性状相关的两个区域，分别位于第9和第11号染色体，共包含127个候选基因。进一步通过差异表达分析以及在耐裂和易裂番茄中的qRT-PCR分析，筛选到显著差异表达的候选基因SlGH9-15 (Solyc09g010210)。对GH9基因家族进行生物信息学分析，发现20个SlGH9基因被分为3组。系统发育分析表明，SlGH9-15与细胞壁结构相关基因AtGH9B1, AtGH9B6, OsGH9B1和OsGH9B3密切相关。启动子顺式作用元件分析表明，SlGH9-15可被不同激素(乙烯和脱落酸)及非生物胁迫诱导表达。表达模式分析表明，13个SlGH9基因，特别是SlGH9-15在易裂果基因型中高表达，且随着果实发育成熟，表达量逐渐增加，在红熟期表达量达到最大值。此外，与耐裂果番茄相比，易裂果番茄中纤维素酶活性较高，纤维素含量较低，在红熟期两基因型中该基因表达差异更为显著。本研究首次鉴定到SlGH9-15基因，推测为番茄果实开裂的关键调控基因。研究为阐明番茄裂果的分子机制及其复杂的调控网络提供了新视野。

提高我国种猪生产效率是当务之急，尽管与母猪总产仔数性状相关的候选位点已逐步被揭示，但其分子机制尚不清晰。梅山猪是享誉世界的高产猪种，其繁殖力高于瘦肉型的大白猪等西方引进猪种。卵巢合成和分泌雌二醇、孕酮等类固醇激素，指导着猪卵母细胞发育、妊娠建立和维持、泌乳等生殖过程，是决定妊娠期生殖特征的关键器官。本研究关注妊娠中期第二个胎儿丢失的关键时期，妊娠第49天的卵巢生理过程，通过转录组、蛋白质组和代谢组的多组学比较研究，旨在确定梅山猪和大白郡猪卵巢黄体的基因组、蛋白质组学和代谢组学差异，以揭示母猪高繁殖力的潜在分子遗传机制。结果显示：梅山猪在妊娠中期的转录组和蛋白质组水平上都表现出卵巢类固醇生物合成和丁酸代谢的普遍下调，但血清胆固醇、雌二醇和孕酮水平均高于大白猪；鉴定出类固醇激素途径基因中与猪总产仔数、猪初生窝重和胎重相关的位点；揭示了梅山猪的高繁殖力性状形成的关键因素之一：调控妊娠中期较低的类固醇物质生物合成效率和较高的生殖激素血清水平的平衡，减少妊娠期的胎儿丢失。

芝麻（Sesamum indicum L.）是一种具有较高营养价值和收益的经济作物，种植在世界80多个国家。在世界范围内，芝麻籽不仅是一种重要的食用油料，而且富含其他作物所缺少的抗氧化木脂素类化合物芝麻素和芝麻林素等。随着芝麻素等成分越来越多的的药理、保健功能被发现和证实，国际芝麻需求不断增加。当前，培育高芝麻素或高木酯素品种已成为主要育种目标之一，总结芝麻素和芝麻林素研究进展，探讨研究热点和存在的问题，对促进广大研究人员协同开展相关研究具有重要意义。本文系统梳理总结了芝麻素和芝麻林素在芝麻品种资源中的含量变异、生物合成途径、关联分子标记、调控基因位点等方面研究进展，并对其在芝麻自身生长发育中潜在的功能作用和最新研究发现的药理作用进行了论述。此外，综述还提出并讨论了未来对于开展分子育种，选育高芝麻素或高木酯素新品种急需开展的一些研究任务。芝麻素和芝麻林素在芝麻应对外界胁迫，包括生物和非生物逆境方面都表现出积极作用。芝麻素和芝麻林素还具有多种药理作用，对人民健康有益，如抗氧化、抗癌、抗炎、抗增殖、抗高血压等作用。尽管已报道有40多种植物中存在芝麻素或木酯素，但因含量较低或分子结构差异，未能像在芝麻中获得重视。芝麻中芝麻素和芝麻林素含量变异范围较大，一般在0.05~12.17mg/g和0 ~10mg/g之间，但多数含量仍比较低。尽管芝麻素和芝麻林素的合成代谢途径已基本清楚，但对于其含量变异的调控基因位点研究仍旧不足，目前尚未有调控功能明确的基因被鉴定，高含量育种仍旧缺乏高效的生物技术手段。

With the rapid development of molecular biology and related disciplines, animal breeding has moved from conventional breeding to molecular breeding.  Marker-assisted selection and genomic selection have become mainstream practices in molecular breeding of livestock.  However, these techniques only use information from genomic variation but not multi-omics information,  thus do not fully explain the molecular basis of phenotypic variations in complex traits.  In addition, the accuracy of breeding value estimation based on these techniques is occasionally controversial in different populations or varieties.  Given the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing techniques and functional genome and dramatic reductions in the overall cost of sequencing, it is possible to clarify the interactions between genes and formation of phenotypes using massive sets of omic-level data from studies of the transcriptome, proteome, epigenome, and metabolome.  During livestock breeding, multi-omics information regarding breeding populations and individuals should be taken into account.  The interactive regulatory networks governing gene regulation and phenotype formation in diverse livestock population, varieties and species should be analyzed.  In addition, a multi-omics regulatory breeding model should be constructed.  Precision, population-personalized breeding is expected to become a crucial practice in future livestock breeding.  Precision breeding of individuals can be achieved by combining population genomic information at multi-omics levels together with genomic selection and genome editing techniques.  

    Porcine reproductive traits are characterized by low heritability, making improvement by traditional selective breeding rather difficult. Molecular breeding offers powerful approaches to overcome previous limitations and is expected to generate economic benefits via progress in pig breeding. Cytochrome P450 family 19 subfamily A polypeptide 1 (CYP19A1) gene is a key enzyme of estradiol biosynthesis that plays an important role in the establishment of gestation and maintenance of pregnancy. In this study, the sequence and structure characteristics of the porcine CYP19A1 gene was analyzed and expression patterns of CYP19A1 in different tissues of adult female pigs were detected. Fourteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the exons and introns of porcine CYP19A1 were identified and genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform, after which the allele frequency of each SNP was analyzed. The association between CYP19A1 SNPs and litter size and piglet birth weight was assessed in a crossbred pig population (n=375). The expression pattern of CYP19A1 revealed that it was highly expressed in the ovary, spleen, and uterus and lowly expressed in the other tissues. Moreover, one SNP, rs341891833, was significantly associated with piglet birth weight during the multiparity period (P<0.01). We concluded that CYP19A1 could be used as a candidate molecular marker in breeding aimed at rapid improvement of the reproductive characteristics of pigs.  

Secreted frizzled-related protein 2 (SFRP2), a member of the SFRPs family, is associated with cell growth and differentiation in myogenesis. Our previous study suggested that SFRP2 was a potential target of microRNA (miRNA)-1/206, which was considered as myomiRs. To further explore the biological function and regulation mechanisms of the SFRP2 gene in porcine skeletal muscle development, we first analyzed the sequence structure of the porcine SFRP2 gene. Subsequently, we detected its tissue distribution in adult Tongcheng pigs (a Chinese indigenous breed) and investigated its dynamic expression in developmental skeletal muscle (13 prenatal and 7 postnatal time points) in Tongcheng pigs. An interaction analysis between SFRP2 and myomiRs was also performed. The results showed that the expression pattern of the SFRP2 varied greatly across diverse tissues. It exhibited abundant expression in prenatal skeletal muscle and peaked at 55 days post coitus (E55), and had a lower expression in postnatal skeletal muscle, indicating that the SFRP2 gene might affect porcine embryonic skeletal muscle development. Co-expression analysis revealed that the expression levels of SFRP2 correlated negatively with miRNA-1 (r=–0.570, P-value=0.009) and miRNA-206 (r=–0.546, P-value=0.013), but positively with SFRP1 (r=0.613, P-value=0.004). The bioinformatics analysis and dual luciferase assay verified that the SFRP2 was a putative target of miRNA-1/206 in pigs. Therefore, this study is helpful for understanding the biological function and molecular regulation of the SFRP2 gene during porcine skeletal muscle development.

    The growth periods (GPs, from planting/emergence to reproductive stage 8 (R8) of soybean cultivars vary in different ecological regions, especially in China with a very complex soybean cropping system. In this study, a 3-yr experimental study was undertaken in three geographical locations of China from 2008 to 2010, including the Northeast (40.66–45.85°N), Huang-Huai (34.75–38.04°N) and southern (22.82–30.60°N) eco-regions with about 250 accessions in each region to clarify the classification of maturity group (MG) and identify the cultivars with stable GP to increase the knowledge about the GP distribution of soybean cultivars in China. GPs of soybean cultivars in different eco-regions were significant different with a gradual decrease from 115–125 d in the Northeast part to the 85–100 d in the southern part of China. The geographical location was the major factor for GP of cultivars from the Northeast, while the year of planting was the major factor affecting the stability of GPs in Huang-Huai summer and southern summer soybean. AMMI2 (additive main effects and multiplicative interaction)-Biplot analysis showed that the GPs of soybean cultivars from the Northeast eco-region have a comparatively satisfactory environmental stability. Moreover, soybean cultivars with moderate GP/MG and stable environment adaptability in different eco-regions were identified based on the linear regression and AMMI analysis, which was important for the accurate classification of soybean MGs in future. Taken together, our results reflected the genetic diversity, geographical distribution and environmental stability of the Chinese soybean GP trait. Soybean cultivars with stable GP for various Chinese eco-regions would be beneficial for Chinese soybean genetic improvement, varietal introduction, exchange, and soybean breeding program for wide adaptability.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), evolutionarily conserved non-coding RNAs in length 21-24 bp, play a critical role in skeletal muscle development. In this study, to explore the function of mircoRNA-127 in porcine skeletal muscle development, eight tissue samples from adult pigs and longissimus muscle samples at 26 developmental stages were collected from Tongcheng and Landrace pigs. The spatial-temporal expression profiles of miRNA-127 were carried out using step-loop quantitative real-time PCR (stem- loop RT-PCR). To explore the molecular functions of miRNA-127, we predicted its target genes and performed functional annotation using bioinformatics methods. Results suggested that miRNA-127 was abundantly expressed in heart, ovary, uterus and spleen tissues and was weakly expressed in liver, lung, kidney and small intestine in both Tongcheng and Landrace pigs. And miRNA-127 showed significant expression differences in heart, ovary, spleen and uterus tissues between these two breeds. miRNA-127 basically kept at a relatively stable high level in middle and later embryonic stages and a low expression level in early embryonic stages and postnatal stages, but the expression levels of miRNA-127 were higher in Tongcheng pigs than in Landrace at most developmental stages. miRNA-127 potentially regulated 240 candidate genes. Results of Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that these genes could be involved in many molecular functions and mechanisms, such as regulation of the force of heart contraction, regulation of transcription, regulation of T cell differentiation, MAPK signaling pathway and GnRH signaling pathway. Many significantly enriched GO terms and KEGG pathways were related to skeletal muscle development. This study will be helpful to understand the biological function for miRNA-127 and identify candidate gene associated with meat production traits in pigs.

Cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 1 (CRABP1) is a well-conserved member of cytosolic lipid-binding protein family. It is an important modulator of retinoic acid signaling. Long serial analysis of gene expression (LongSAGE) analysis suggested that CRABP1 gene was differentially expressed during prenatal skeletal muscle development in porcine. Here, we obtained the full-length coding region sequence and genomic sequence of the porcine CRABP1 gene and analyzed its genomic structures. Subsequently, we examined CRABP1 chromosome assignment using INRA-University of Minnesota 7 000 porcine radiation hybrid panel (IMpRH) and explored its tissue distribution in adult Tongcheng pigs and dynamical expression profiles in prenatal skeletal muscle (33, 65 and 90 days post coitus, dpc) from Landrace (lean-type) (described as L33, L65 and L90) and Tongcheng pigs (obese-type) (described as T33, T65 and T90). The CRABP1 gene was mapped to chromosome 7q11-q23 and closely linked to the microsatellite marker SWR1928. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that CRABP1 mRNA was highly expressed in lung and stomach, moderately expressed in placenta and uterus, and weakly expressed in other tissues. Moreover, CRABP1 gene was down-regulated during prenatal skeletal muscle development in both Landrace and Tongcheng pigs and it was expressed much higher in T33 than L33. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected by sequencing and mass spectrometry methods, allele frequency analysis indicated that g. 281 (G>A) and g. 2992 (G>A) were deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the Landrace and DLY (Duroc×(Landrace×Yorkshire)) pig breeds.