Initial RNA-seq analysis on the milk transcriptional profiling of two sheep breeds

Abstract Text:

In this study, massively parallel sequencing of transcripts (RNA-Seq) was used to make a preliminary characterization of the milk transcriptome of two dairy sheep breeds, Churra and Assaf, at day 120 of lactation. A total of 230 million paired-end reads were obtained from RNA sequencing. The 91% of these reads were mapped to a unique location in the ovine genome. Genes encoding caseins and whey protein showed the highest expression in this stage of lactation. Eight genes were identified as differentially expressed between the two dairy sheep breeds under study. A relationship with milk composition and lactation maintenance was established for some of the differentially expressed genes found.

Keywords:

Sheep

Milk producion

RNA-seq