Proteomics analysis reveals promotion effect of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D on mammary gland development and lactation of primiparous sows during gestation.

1α,25(OH)VD is the most active form of vitamin D in animals, and it plays an important role in regulating mineral metabolism and reproduction. In this study, 140 crossbred gilts (Landrace × Yorkshire) were selected, randomly divided into four groups, and fed with a commercial diet supplemented with 0, 1, 2, and 4 μg/kg of 1α,25(OH)VD in the form of 1α,25(OH)VD-glycosides. The mammary gland tissues were sampled from sows on day 114 of gestation.

Proteomics analysis reveals the effect of 1α,25(OH)VD-glycosides on development of early testes in piglets.

1α,25(OH)VD is the most active form of VD3 in animals. It plays an important role in regulating mineral metabolism but also in reproduction. Testes are the main reproductive organs of male mammals.

Comparative analyses of longissimus muscle miRNAomes reveal microRNAs associated with differential regulation of muscle fiber development between Tongcheng and Yorkshire pigs.

Tongcheng (TC) and Yorkshire (YK) are two pig breeds with distinctive muscle morphology. Porcine microRNAome (miRNAome) of the longissimus muscle during five developmental stages (40, 55, 63, 70, and 90 days post coitum (dpc)) was explored by Solexa sequencing in the present study to find miRNAs involved in the different regulation of skeletal muscle development between the two breeds. A total of 320 known porcine miRNAs, 64 miRNAs corresponding to other mammals, and 224 potentially novel miRNAs were identified.

Dynamic transcriptome profiles of skeletal muscle tissue across 11 developmental stages for both Tongcheng and Yorkshire pigs.

Background: The growth and development of skeletal muscle directly impacts the quantity and quality of pork production. Chinese indigenous pig breeds and exotic species vary greatly in terms of muscle production and performance traits. We present transcriptome profiles of 110 skeletal muscle samples from Tongcheng (TC) and Yorkshire (YK) pigs at 11 developmental periods (30, 40, 55, 63, 70, 90, and 105 days of gestation, and 0, 1, 3, and 5 weeks of age) using digital gene expression on Solexa/Illumina's Genome Analyzer platform to investigate the differences in prenatal and postnatal skeletal muscle between the two breeds.

A 304 bp insertion/deletion mutation in promoter region induces the increase of porcine IDH3β gene expression.

Obese and lean pig breeds show obvious differences in adipose metabolism/fat deposition; however, the molecular mechanism underlying phenotype variation remains unknown. In order to understand it, we analyzed the differences of gene expression in backfat between Meishan (a typical Chinese indigenous obese breed) and Large White (a lean Western breed) pigs. Here, we cloned porcine β subunit of IDH3 (IDH3B) and 2447 bp 5'-flanking sequence of this gene, and determined the genomic structure.