Browsing by Subject "miRNA"

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Multi-omics reveals different strategies in the immune and metabolic systems of high-yielding strains of laying hens
(2022) Iqbal, Muhammad Arsalan; Reyer, Henry; Oster, Michael; Hadlich, Frieder; Trakooljul, Nares; Perdomo-Sabogal, Alvaro; Schmucker, Sonja; Stefanski, Volker; Roth, Christoph; Camarinha-Silva, Amélia; Huber, Korinna; Sommerfeld, Vera; Rodehutscord, Markus; Wimmers, Klaus; Ponsuksili, Siriluck
Lohmann Brown (LB) and Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL) are two commercially important laying hen strains due to their high egg production and excellent commercial suitability. The present study integrated multiple data sets along the genotype-phenotype map to better understand how the genetic background of the two strains influences their molecular pathways. In total, 71 individuals were analyzed (LB, n = 36; LSL, n = 35). Data sets include gut miRNA and mRNA transcriptome data, microbiota composition, immune cells, inositol phosphate metabolites, minerals, and hormones from different organs of the two hen strains. All complex data sets were pre-processed, normalized, and compatible with the mixOmics platform. The most discriminant features between two laying strains included 20 miRNAs, 20 mRNAs, 16 immune cells, 10 microbes, 11 phenotypic traits, and 16 metabolites. The expression of specific miRNAs and the abundance of immune cell types were related to the enrichment of immune pathways in the LSL strain. In contrast, more microbial taxa specific to the LB strain were identified, and the abundance of certain microbes strongly correlated with host gut transcripts enriched in immunological and metabolic pathways. Our findings indicate that both strains employ distinct inherent strategies to acquire and maintain their immune and metabolic systems under high-performance conditions. In addition, the study provides a new perspective on a view of the functional biodiversity that emerges during strain selection and contributes to the understanding of the role of host–gut interaction, including immune phenotype, microbiota, gut transcriptome, and metabolome.
Site-dependent differences in DNA methylation and their impact on plant establishment in Populus trichocarpa
(2016) Schönberger, Brigitte; Ludewig, Uwe
Phosphate (Pi) limits total biomass production in natural tree ecosystems. Due to the low mobility of Pi in soil, higher plants, like trees, require special adaptations for phosphorus (P) acquisition. The genetic and physiological basis of this adaptation has been studied extensively. In addition, phosphorus starvation was recently suggested to affect epigenetic modifications in varying annual plant species. However, the impact of differential DNA methylation and microRNAs (miRNAs) on gene expression as well as site-dependent P-related physiology is largely unknown in perennials. In this study Populus trichocarpa clones, established from stem cuttings from two different locations, were grown in hydroponic culture with different P levels. Morphological and physiological parameters as well as, using bisulfite sequencing, site-specific genome-wide methylomes were determined. Gene and miRNA expression of differentially methylated regions was quantified via qPCR. Site-dependent differences in plant establishment were encountered, together with site-specific differentially methylated chromosomal regions. Methylation differences were nucleotide context-specific and extensively regulated miRNAs and their target genes in an organ-specific way. Though no direct relation between differential methylation in coding regions and their corresponding gene expression was observed, a general site-dependent transcriptional repression by DNA methylation was detected. Nevertheless, differential DNA methylation and gene expression was not affected by P nutrition, although recent studies described P-starvation induced DNA methylation changes, suggesting species-specific epigenetic mechanisms. However, differentially methylated miRNAs, together with their target genes, showed P-dependent expression profiles, indicating miRNA expression changes as a P-related epigenetic modification in poplar. Hence, it was shown that differences in DNA methylation or differentially methylated miRNAs might influence plant establishment and partially correlate with P acquisition, and thus be responsible for a site-dependent adaptation and growth performance, interesting for plant breeding, conservation biology and biodiversity studies of vegetatively propagated perennials.