Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (5): 1029-1044.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240463

• Animal Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Proteomic study of large and small testes in Ningdu Yellow chicken based on tandem mass tags(TMT) technology

MA Jing'e(), WU Siqi, WAN Shumin, XIONG Xinwei, XU Jiguo, XU Jing, RAO Yousheng, ZHOU Min()   

  1. Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Poultry Genetic Improvement, Institution of Biological Technology, Nanchang Normal University, Nanchang 330032, China
  • Received:2024-05-27 Online:2025-05-25 Published:2025-06-11

Abstract:

This experiment aimed to investigate the protein expression profiles in testes of adult Ningdu Huang chickens, screen differentially expressed proteins and functional pathways between individuals with large and small testes, and provide foundational data for breeding selection of reproductive performance. Using testicular tissues from six 22-week-old Ningdu Huang chickens divided into large-testis(H-TES) group and small-testis(L-TES) group, tandem mass tags(TMT) technology was employed to conduct differential expression analysis, functional enrichment analysis, and gene interaction analysis of testicular proteins between the two groups. Candidate proteins were preliminarily screened, and correlations between the expression levels of these proteins in six individuals and six testicular trait indicators (left testis weight, right testis weight, total testis weight, left testis index, right testis index, total testis index) were analyzed to investigate protein functions. Results showed that 4 683 proteins were identified in Ningdu Huang chicken testes, with 144 differentially expressed proteins screened. GO analysis revealed that these differential expressed proteins primarily participate in sperm structural composition and possess functions including ubulin-glutamic acid ligase activity, thymine binding, and dehydroascorbic acid transmembrane transporter activity, etc. Significantly enriched KEGG pathways included arginine and proline metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, and β-alanine metabolism, etc. The protein interaction network contained 34 differential proteins, and 30 candidate proteins were preliminarily identified. Through correlation analysis and literature review, 16 key candidate proteins were screened: SPAG6, TPPP2, ENKUR, ODF2, SAXO1, TCP11, DNALI1, CCDC63, TSSK3, TEKT2, TEKT3, ALDH2, DNAH5, CCDC40, CCDC39, and DNAH10. Based on their functions, key regulatory KEGG pathways for testicular traits were identified as arginine and proline metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, β-alanine metabolism, tight junction, and gap junction. These findings provide fundamental data for breeding selection of testicular quality traits in local chicken breeds.

Key words: Ningdu yellow chicken, testis, tandem mass tag(TMT), proteome, candidate gene

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