Pigs are globally farmed animals which provide protein for human consumption in the form of skeletal muscle.  To better understand the function of long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) in porcine skeletal muscle growth and development, we collected RNA-seq data from porcine longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) during embryonic development.  We identified a total of 739 lincRNA transcripts, which were distributed on all chromosomes except the chromosome Y, and analyzed their molecular characteristics.  Compared to protein-coding genes, lincRNAs showed shorter transcripts, longer exons, fewer exons and higher tissue specificity.  In addition, the abundance of lincRNAs in five embryonic development stages were analyzed and 45 differentially expressed lincRNAs were screened, three of which were highly expressed in LDM during porcine embryonic development.  Finally, we predicted the potential target genes and functions of the lincRNAs, and identified 1 537 cis-target genes and 8 571 trans-target genes.  Furthermore, we identified two key candidate lincRNAs involved in muscle development, XLOC_024652 and XLOC_001832, for post-trial validation.  Our results provide a genome-wide resource of lincRNAs which are potentially involved in porcine embryonic skeletal muscle development and lay a foundation for the further study of their functions.

 

Understanding the influence of farming practices on carbon (C) cycling is important for maintaining soil quality and mitigating climate change, especially in arid regions where soil infertility, water deficiency, and climate change had significantly influenced on agroecosystem.  A field experiment was set up in 2009 to examine the influence of residue management and fertilizer application on the C cycle in a cotton field in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of Northwest China.  The study included two residue management practices (residue incorporation (S) and residue removal (NS)) and four fertilizer treatments (no fertilizer (CK), organic manure (OM), chemical fertilizer (NPK), chemical fertilizer plus organic manure (NPK+OM)).  Soil organic carbon (SOC) and some of its labile fractions, soil CO₂ flux, and canopy apparent photosynthesis were measured during the cotton growing seasons in 2015 and 2016.  The results showed that SOC, labile SOC fractions, canopy apparent photosynthesis, and soil CO₂ emission were significantly greater in S+NPK+OM (residue incorporation+chemical fertilizer) than in the other treatments.  Analysis of all data showed that canopy apparent photosynthesis and soil CO₂ emission increased as SOC increased.  The S+OM (residue incorporation+organic manure) and S+NPK+OM treatments were greater for soil C sequestration, whereas the other treatments resulted in soil C loss.  The S+NPK treatment is currently the standard management practice in Xinjiang.  The results of this study indicate that S+NPK cannot offset soil C losses due to organic matter decomposition and autotrophic respiration.  Residue return combined with NPK fertilizer and organic manure application is the preferred strategy in arid regions for increasing soil C sequestration.