Genomic imprinting often results in parent-of-origin specific differential expression of maternally and paternally inherited alleles and plays an essential role in mammalian development and growth. Mammalian genomic imprinting has primarily been studied in mice and humans, with only limited information available for pigs. To systematically characterize this phenomenon and evaluate imprinting status between different species, we investigated imprinted genes on a genome-wide scale in pig brain tissues. Specifically, we performed bioinformatics analysis of high-throughput sequencing results from parental genomes and offspring transcriptomes of hybrid crosses between Duroc and Diannan small-ear pigs. We identified 11 paternally and five maternally expressed imprinted genes in pigs with highly stringent selection criteria. Additionally, we found that the KCNQ1 and IGF2R genes, which are related to development, displayed a different imprinting status in pigs compared with that in mice and humans. This comprehensive research should help improve our knowledge on genomic imprinting in pigs and highlight the potential use of imprinted genes in the pig breeding field.
基因组印记通常导致后代中来自亲本特异的母系和父系等位基因具有差异性表达的特点，并在哺乳动物的生长发育中发挥重要作用。哺乳动物基因组印记目前主要在小鼠和人类中进行研究，在猪上的工作较少。为了系统地描述这一现象并评估不同物种间的印记状态，我们在全基因组范围内研究鉴定了家猪脑组织中的印记基因。具体来说，我们利用杜洛克猪和滇南小耳猪的亲本基因组以及二者杂交后代转录组的高通量测序数据进行了生物信息学分析，经过严格的分析标准在家猪中一共鉴定了11个父系表达和5个母系表达的印记基因。此外，我们发现与生长发育相关的 KCNQ1和 IGF2R基因在猪中的印记状态与在小鼠和人类中的印记状态不相同。这项系统全面的研究将有助于提高我们对家猪基因组印记的认识，并为印记基因在家猪育种领域的潜在用途提供理论基础。.
Keywords: Breeding; Imprinted gene; Imprinting status; Pig.