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Series GSE7409 Query DataSets for GSE7409
Status Public on Nov 26, 2007
Title Gene expression profiles in testis of pigs with extreme high and low levels of androstenone.
Organism Sus scrofa
Experiment type Expression profiling by array
Summary Boar taint is a major obstacle when using uncastrated male pigs for swine production. One of the main compounds causing this taint is androstenone, a pheromone produced in porcine testis. Here we use microarrays to study the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously in testis of high and low androstenone boars. The study allows identification of genes and pathways associated with elevated androstenone levels. Testicular tissue was collected from 60 boars, 30 with extreme high and 30 with extreme low levels of androstenone, from each of the two breeds Duroc and Norwegian Landrace. The samples were hybridised to porcine arrays containing 26.877 cDNA clones, detecting 563 and 160 genes that were differentially expressed (p < 0.01) in Duroc and Norwegian Landrace, respectively. Of these significantly up- and down-regulated clones, 72 were found to be common for the two breeds, suggesting both general and breed specific mechanisms in regulation of, or response to androstenone levels in boars. Ten of the most significant genes were chosen for verification of expression patterns by quantitative real competitive PCR and real-time PCR. As expected, our results point towards steroid hormone metabolism and biosynthesis as important biological processes for the androstenone levels, but other potential pathways were identified as well. Among these were oxidoreductase activity, ferric iron binding, iron ion binding and electron transport activities. Genes belonging to the cytochrome P450 and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase families were highly up-regulated, in addition to several genes encoding different families of conjugation enzymes. Furthermore, a number of genes encoding transcription factors were found both up- and down-regulated. The high number of clones belonging to ferric iron and iron ion binding suggests an importance of these genes, and the association between these pathways and androstenone levels is not previously described. This study contributes to the understanding of the complex genetic system controlling and responding to androstenone levels in pig testis. The identification of new pathways and genes involved in the biosynthesis and metabolism of androstenone is an important first step towards finding molecular markers to reduce boar taint.
Keywords: high vs low
 
Overall design Testicle samples from animals with extreme androstenone values, 30 high and 30 low from each of the two breeds Norwegian Landrace and Duroc, were used for the experiment. Each microarray was hybridised with one high and one low androstenone sample from the same breed, giving a total of 30 arrays for each breed.
 
Contributor(s) Moe M, Meuwissen T, Lien S, Bendixen C, Wang X, Conley LN, Berget I, Tajet H, Grindflek E
Citation(s) 17988377
Submission date Mar 30, 2007
Last update date Mar 17, 2012
Contact name Jakob Hedegaard
E-mail(s) Jakob.Hedegaard@ki.au.dk
Phone (+45)89991363
Organization name Aarhus University, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Department Department of Genetics and Biotechnology
Lab Molecular Genetics and System Biology
Street address PO-box 50
City Tjele
ZIP/Postal code DK-8830
Country Denmark
 
Platforms (1)
GPL3608 DIAS_PIG_55K3_v1
Samples (60)
GSM178764 Testicle tissue, Porcine, D_004077
GSM178765 Testicle tissue, Porcine, D_004152
GSM178766 Testicle tissue, Porcine, L_004404
Relations
BioProject PRJNA100377

Download family Format
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Series Matrix File(s) TXTHelp

Supplementary file Size Download File type/resource
GSE7409_RAW.tar 423.1 Mb (http)(custom) TAR (of CSV)
Processed data included within Sample table
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