Ondatra zibethicus Transcriptome or Gene expression

Muskrat is a seasonal musk-secreting animal. Under natural conditions, the metabolism of muskrat is likely to differ between the musk-secreting and non-secreting periods. To maintain musk secretion in the musk glands during the musk-secreting period, muskrats require a lot of metabolites and energy, whereas during the non-secreting period, metabolism of musk secretion is maintained at a low level. We hypothesized that the metabolic changes in the musk-secreting period and non-secreting period may be due to genetic factor. In the present study, RNA-seq technique was used for whole transcriptome sequencing of musk gland tissues in muskrats during both musk-secreting and non-secreting periods. The changes of gene expression in metabolic pathways of musk glands between the two periods, and the relationship between different metabolic pathways and musk-secretion were compared. The results showed that by classifying the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotations of differentially expressed genes according to the types of pathways in KEGG, the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, and some other substances exhibited significant changes. It is because of the metabolic level of these substances changed to provide a guarantee of muskrat secretion. Analysis of the metabolic changes in the musk-secreting and non-secreting periods is of great importance for the study of metabolic regulation during the musk-secreting period in muskrats, and also laid the foundation for the further study of muskrat secretion mechanism.