Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as powerful regulators of adipocyte differentiation, fat metabolism and gene expression. However, the functional roles and mechanisms of lncRNAs in these processes remain unclear. Here, we identified a novel antisense transcript, named APMAP-AS, transcribed from adipocyte membrane-associated protein (APMAP) in the pig genome. APMAP-AS and APMAP were highly expressed in retroperitoneal adipose of obese pigs, compared with that in control pigs. Using a bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) adipogenic differentiation model, we found that APMAP-AS positively regulated adipogenic differentiation. APMAP-AS had the potential to form an RNA–RNA duplex with APMAP, and increased the stability of APMAP mRNA. Additionally, APMAP-AS promoted lipid metabolism and inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors. These findings of a natural antisense transcript for a regulatory gene associated with lipid synthesis might further our understanding of lncRNAs in driving adaptive adipose tissue remodeling and preserving metabolic health.

Follistatin (FST) is an important regulator of skeletal muscle growth and adipose deposition through its ability to bind to several members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, and thus may be a good candidate for future animal breeding programs.  However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotypic changes have yet to be clarified in pig.  We generated transgenic (TG) pigs that express human FST specifically in skeletal muscle tissues and characterized the phenotypic changes compared with the same tissues in wild-type pigs.  The TG pigs showed increased skeletal muscle growth, decreased adipose deposition, and improved metabolism status (P<0.05).  Transcriptome analysis detected important roles of the PIK3–AKT signaling pathway, calcium-mediated signaling pathway, and amino acid metabolism pathway in FST-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy, and depot-specific oxidative metabolism changes in psoas major muscle.  Furthermore, the lipid metabolism-related process was changed in adipose tissue in the TG pigs.  Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that genes related to lipid synthesis, lipid catabolism, and lipid storage were down-regulated (P<0.01) in the TG pigs for subcutaneous fat, whereas genes related to lipid catabolism were significantly up-regulated (P<0.05) in the TG pigs for retroperitoneal fat compared with their expression levels in wild-type pigs.  In liver, genes related to the TGF-β signaling pathway were over-represented in the TG pigs, which is consistent with the inhibitory role of FST in regulating TGF-β signaling.  Together, these results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotypic changes in pig.

Soybean is a widely planted genetically modified crop around the world. However, it is still one of the most recalcitrant crops for genetic transformation due to the difficulty of regeneration via organogenesis and some factors that affect the transformation efficiency. The percentages of resistant bud formation and transient expression efficiency are important indexes reflecting the regeneration and transformation efficiency of soybean. In this study, the percentages of resistant bud formation and transient expression of β-glucuronidase (GUS) were compared after treatment with sonication or surfactant and co-treatment with both. The results showed that treatment with either sonication or surfactant increased the percentage of resistant bud formation and transient expression efficiency. The highest percentages were acquired and significantly improved when cotyledon node explants were co-treated with sonication for 2 s and surfactant at 0.02% (v:v) using two different soybean genotypes, Jack and Zhonghuang 10. The improved transformation efficiency of this combination was also evaluated by development of herbicide-tolerant soybeans with transformation efficiency at 2.5–5.7% for different genotypes, which was significantly higher than traditional cotyledonary node method in this study. These results suggested that co-treatment with surfactant and sonication significantly improved the percentages of resistance bud formation, transient expression efficiency and stable transformation efficiency in soybean.

Soybean seed storage protein is one of the most important plant vegetable proteins, and β subunit is of great significance to enhance soybean protein quality and processing property. F2 segregated population and residual heterozygous lines (RHL) derived from the cross between Yangyandou (low level of β subunit) and Zhonghuang 13 (normal level of β subunit) were used for mapping of β subunit content. Our results showed that β subunit content was controlled by a single dominant locus, qBSC-1 (β subunit content), which was mapped to a region of 11.9 cM on chromosome 20 in F2 population of 85 individuals. This region was narrowed down to 2.5 cM between BARCSOYSSR_20_0997 and BARCSOYSSR_20_0910 in RHL with a larger population size of 246 individuals. There were 48 predicted genes within qBSC-1 region based on the reference genome (Glyma 1.0, Williams 82), including the two copies of β subunit coding gene CG4. An InDel marker developed from a thymine (TT) insertion in one copy of CG4 promoter region in Yangyandou cosegregrated with BARCSOYSSR_20_0975 within qBSC-1 region, suggesting that this InDel marker maybe useful for marker-assisted selection (MAS).