Comparative transcriptomics analysis identifies crucial genes and pathways during goose spleen development

Shenqiang Hu; Yang Song; Xiaopeng Li; Qingliang Chen; Bincheng Tang; Jiasen Chen; Guang Yang; Haoyu Yan; Junqi Wang; Wanxia Wang; Jiwei Hu; Hua He; Liang Li; Jiwen Wang

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1327166

Comparative transcriptomics analysis identifies crucial genes and pathways during goose spleen development

Front Immunol. 2024 Feb 5:15:1327166. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1327166. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Shenqiang Hu^#^{1

2

3}, Yang Song^#^{1

2

3}, Xiaopeng Li^{1

2

3}, Qingliang Chen^{1

2

3}, Bincheng Tang^{1

2

3}, Jiasen Chen^{1

2

3}, Guang Yang^{2

3}, Haoyu Yan^{2

3}, Junqi Wang^{1

2

3}, Wanxia Wang⁴, Jiwei Hu^{1

2

3}, Hua He^{1

2

3}, Liang Li^{1

2

3}, Jiwen Wang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
² Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Multi-Omics Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
³ Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Department of Animal Production, General Station of Animal Husbandry of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

As the largest peripheral lymphoid organ in poultry, the spleen plays an essential role in regulating the body's immune capacity. However, compared with chickens and ducks, information about the age- and breed-related changes in the goose spleen remains scarce. In this study, we systematically analyzed and compared the age-dependent changes in the morphological, histological, and transcriptomic characteristics between Landes goose (LG; Anser anser) and Sichuan White goose (SWG; Anser cygnoides). The results showed a gradual increase in the splenic weights for both LG and SWG until week 10, while their splenic organ indexes reached the peak at week 6. Meanwhile, the splenic histological indexes of both goose breeds continuously increased with age, reaching the highest levels at week 30. The red pulp (RP) area was significantly higher in SWG than in LG at week 0, while the splenic corpuscle (AL) diameter was significantly larger in LG than in SWG at week 30. At the transcriptomic level, a total of 1710 and 1266 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between week 0 and week 30 were identified in spleens of LG and SWG, respectively. Meanwhile, a total of 911 and 808 DEGs in spleens between LG and SWG were identified at weeks 0 and 30, respectively. Both GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the age-related DEGs of LG or SWG were dominantly enriched in the Cell cycle, TGF-beta signaling, and Wnt signaling pathways, while most of the breed-related DEGs were enriched in the Neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, ECM-receptor interaction, and metabolic pathways. Furthermore, through construction of protein-protein interaction networks using significant DEGs, it was inferred that three hub genes including BUB1, BUB1B, and TTK could play crucial roles in regulating age-dependent goose spleen development while GRIA2, GRIA4, and RYR2 could be crucial for the breed-specific goose spleen development. These data provide novel insights into the splenic developmental differences between Chinese and European domestic geese, and the identified crucial pathways and genes are helpful for a better understanding of the mechanisms regulating goose immune functions.

Keywords: Landes goose; Sichuan white goose; immunity; protein-protein interaction network; spleen; transcriptomic analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Chickens / genetics
Geese* / genetics
Gene Expression Profiling
Spleen*
Transcriptome

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was financially supported by the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2023NSFSC0227), the Key Technology Support Program of Sichuan Province (2021YFYZ0014), and the China Agricultural Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-42-4).