Regulation of DNA methylation during the testicular development of Shaziling pigs.

DNA methylation is one of the key epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in development and spermatogenesis. However, the dynamic regulatory mechanisms of genome-wide DNA methylation during testicular development remain largely unknown. Herein, we generated a single-base resolution DNA methylome and transcriptome atlas of precocious porcine testicular tissues across three developmental stages (1, 75, and 150 days old). The results showed that the dynamic methylation patterns were directly related to the expression of the DNMT3A gene. Conjoint analysis revealed a negative regulatory pattern between promoter methylation and the positive regulation of 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) methylation. Mechanistically, the decrease in promoter methylation affected the upregulation of meiosis-related genes, such as HORMAD1, SPO11, and SYCE1. Demethylation in the 3'UTR induced the downregulation of the INHBA gene and knockdown of INHBA inhibited cell proliferation by reducing the synthesis of activin A. These findings contribute to exploring the regulatory mechanisms of DNA methylation in testicular development.

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Meishan pig (Sus Scrofa) and a phylogenetic study.

In this study, we cloned and sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome DNA of Chinese pig, the Meishan pig. The sample was taken from Yencheng City, Jiangsu province in China. The complete genome DNA is 16 708 bp in length. We also performed a comparative analysis of the Meishan pig mitochondrial to the mitogenome sequences of 21 pig breeds which have been deposited in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis using neighbour-joining computational algorithms showed that the analyzed species are divided into four major clades; the results can be subsequently used to provide information for pig phylogenetic and insights into the evolution of genomes.