Genome-wide analysis of structural variants reveals genetic differences in Chinese pigs

Pangenome obtained by long-read sequencing of 11 genomes reveal hidden functional structural variants in pigs

Long-read sequencing (LRS) facilitates both the genome assembly and the discovery of structural variants (SVs). Here, we built a graph-based pig pangenome by incorporating 11 LRS genomes with an average of 94.01% BUSCO completeness score, revealing 206-Mb novel sequences. We discovered 183,352 nonredundant SVs (63% novel), representing 12.12% of the reference genome. By genotyping SVs in an additional 196 short-read sequencing samples, we identified thousands of population stratified SVs. Particularly, we detected 7,568 Tibetan specific SVs, some of which demonstrate significant population differentiation between Tibetan and low-altitude pigs, which might be associated with the high-altitude hypoxia adaptation in Tibetan pigs. Further integrating functional genomic data, the most promising candidate genes within the SVs that might contribute to the high-altitude hypoxia adaptation were discovered. Overall, our study generates a benchmark pangenome resource for illustrating the important roles of SVs in adaptive evolution, domestication, and genetic improvement of agronomic traits in pigs.

Large Fragment InDels Reshape Genome Structure of Porcine Alveolar Macrophage 3D4/21 Cells

The porcine monomyeloid cell line, or 3D4/21 cells, is an effective tool to study the immune characteristics and virus infection mechanism of pigs. Due to the introduction of the neomycin resistance gene and the SV40 large T antigen gene, its genome has undergone essential changes, which are still unknown. Studying the variation in genome structure, especially the large fragments of insertions and deletions (InDels), is one of the proper ways to reveal these issues. In this study, an All-seq method was established by combining Mate-pair and Shotgun sequencing methods, and the detection and verification of large fragments of InDels were performed on 3D4/21 cells. The results showed that there were 844 InDels with a length of more than 1 kb, of which 12 regions were deletions of more than 100 kb in the 3D4/21 cell genome. In addition, compared with porcine primary alveolar macrophages, 82 genes including the CD163 had lost transcription in 3D4/21 cells, and 72 genes gained transcription as well. Further referring to the Hi-C structure, it was found that the fusion of the topologically associated domains (TADs) caused by the deletion may lead to abnormal gene function. The results of this study provide a basis for elaborating the genome structure and functional variation in 3D4/21 cells, provide a method for rapid and convenient detection of large-scale InDels, and provide useful clues for the study of the porcine immune function genome and the molecular mechanism of virus infection.

Analysis of Structural Variants Reveal Novel Selective Regions in the Genome of Meishan Pigs by Whole Genome Sequencing

Structural variants (SVs) represent essential forms of genetic variation, and they are associated with various phenotypic traits in a wide range of important livestock species. However, the distribution of SVs in the pig genome has not been fully characterized, and the function of SVs in the economic traits of pig has rarely been studied, especially for most domestic pig breeds. Meishan pig is one of the most famous Chinese domestic pig breeds, with excellent reproductive performance. Here, to explore the genome characters of Meishan pig, we construct an SV map of porcine using whole-genome sequencing data and report 33,698 SVs in 305 individuals of 55 globally distributed pig breeds. We perform selective signature analysis using these SVs, and a number of candidate variants are successfully identified. Especially for the Meishan pig, 64 novel significant selection regions are detected in its genome. A 140-bp deletion in the Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase 2 (IDO2) gene, is shown to be associated with reproduction traits in Meishan pig. In addition, we detect two duplications only existing in Meishan pig. Moreover, the two duplications are separately located in cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily J member 2 (CYP2J2) gene and phospholipase A2 group IVA (PLA2G4A) gene, which are related to the reproduction trait. Our study provides new insights into the role of selection in SVs' evolution and how SVs contribute to phenotypic variation in pigs.

Improving read alignment through the generation of alternative reference via iterative strategy

There is generally one standard reference sequence for each species. When extensive variations exist in other breeds of the species, it can lead to ambiguous alignment and inaccurate variant calling and, in turn, compromise the accuracy of downstream analysis. Here, with the help of the FPGA hardware platform, we present a method that generates an alternative reference via an iterative strategy to improve the read alignment for breeds that are genetically distant to the reference breed. Compared to the published reference genomes, by using the alternative reference sequences we built, the mapping rates of Chinese indigenous pigs and chickens were improved by 0.61-1.68% and 0.09-0.45%, respectively. These sequences also enable researchers to recover highly variable regions that could be missed using public reference sequences. We also determined that the optimal number of iterations needed to generate alternative reference sequences were seven and five for pigs and chickens, respectively. Our results show that, for genetically distant breeds, generating an alternative reference sequence can facilitate read alignment and variant calling and improve the accuracy of downstream analyses.

Genome-wide association analysis of nutrient traits in the oyster Crassostrea gigas: genetic effect and interaction network

Background

Oyster is rich in glycogen and free amino acids and is called “the milk of sea”. To understand the main genetic effects of these traits and the genetic networks underlying their correlation, we have conducted the whole genome resequencing with 427 oysters collected from the world-wide scale.

Results

After association analysis, 168 clustered significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci were identified for glycogen content and 17 SNPs were verified with 288 oyster individuals in another wide populations. These were the most important candidate loci for oyster breeding. Among 24 genes in the 100-kb regions of the leading SNP loci, cytochrome P450 17A1 (CYP17A1) contained a non-synonymous SNP and displayed higher expressions in high glycogen content individuals. This might enhance the gluconeogenesis process by the transcriptionally regulating the expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose 6-phosphatase (G6Pase). Also, for amino acids content, 417 clustered significant SNPs were identified. After genetic network analysis, three node SNP regions were identified to be associated with glycogen, protein, and Asp content, which might explain their significant correlation.

Conclusion

Overall, this study provides insights into the genetic correlation among complex traits, which will facilitate future oyster functional studies and breeding through molecular design.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-019-5971-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Whole-genome analysis of structural variations between Xiang pigs with larger litter sizes and those with smaller litter sizes

To gain a better knowledge of structural variations (SVs) in Xiang pig, we used next-generation sequencing to analyze the Xiang pigs with larger (XL) or smaller litter sizes (XS). Our analysis yielded 28,040 putative SVs in the Xiang pig. These SVs distributed throughout all of chromosomes. Some functional regions including exons and untranslated regions were less varied than introns and intergenic regions. We detected 4637 and 4119 specific SVs, which contained 1697 and 1582 genes in XL and XS group, respectively. These genes were mainly enriched in the well-known pathways involved in development and reproduction processes. Population validation was carried out on 50 SVs candidates using PCR method in 144 Xiang pig crowds. All of 50 SVs were confirmed by PCR method and 14 SVs were associated with the litter size of Xiang pigs. These results may be helpful for the elucidation of growth and reproduction regulation in Xiang pig.