Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci on Porcine Chromosome 7 Using Combined Data Analysis

Zuo, B.,Xiong, Y.Z.,Su, Y.H.,Deng, C.Y.,Lei, M.G.,Zheng, R.,Jiang, S.W.,Li, F.E. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2004 Animal Bioscience Vol.17 No.10

To further investigate the regions on porcine chromosome 7 that are responsible for economically important traits, phenotypic data from a total of 287 F2 individuals were collected and analyzed from 1998 to 2000. All animals were genotyped for eight microsatellite loci spanning the length of chromosome 7. QTL analysis was performed using interval mapping under the line-cross model. A permutation test was used to establish significance levels associated with QTL effects. Observed QTL effects were (chromosomewide significance, position of maximum significance in centimorgans): Birth weight (<0.01, 3); Carcass length (<0.05, 80); Longissimus muscle area (<0.01, 69); Skin percentage (<0.01, 69); Bone percentage (<0.01, 74); Fat depths at shoulder (<0.05, 54);Mean fat depth (<0.05, 81); Moisture in m. Longissimus Dorsi (<0.05, 88). Additional evidence was also found which suggested QTL for dressing percentage and fat depths at buttock. This study offers confirmation of several QTL affecting growth and carcass traits on SSC7 and provides an important step in the search for the actual major genes involved in the traits of economic interest.

c-Cbl-Mediated Neddylation Antagonizes Ubiquitination and Degradation of the TGF-β Type II Receptor

Zuo, W.,Huang, F.,Chiang, Y.,Li, M.,Du, J.,Ding, Y.,Zhang, T.,Lee, H.,Jeong, L.,Chen, Y.,Deng, H.,Feng, X.H.,Luo, S.,Gao, C.,Chen, Y.G. Cell Press 2013 Molecular cell Vol.49 No.3

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is a potent antiproliferative factor in multiple types of cells. Deregulation of TGF-β signaling is associated with the development of many cancers, including leukemia, though the molecular mechanisms are largely unclear. Here, we show that Casitas B-lineage lymphoma (c-Cbl), a known proto-oncogene encoding an ubiquitin E3 ligase, promotes TGF-β signaling by neddylating and stabilizing the type II receptor (TβRII). Knockout of c-Cbl decreases the TβRII protein level and desensitizes hematopoietic stem or progenitor cells to TGF-β stimulation, while c-Cbl overexpression stabilizes TβRII and sensitizes leukemia cells to TGF-β. c-Cbl conjugates neural precursor cell-expressed, developmentally downregulated 8 (NEDD8), a ubiquitin-like protein, to TβRII at Lys556 and Lys567. Neddylation of TβRII promotes its endocytosis to EEA1-positive early endosomes while preventing its endocytosis to caveolin-positive compartments, therefore inhibiting TβRII ubiquitination and degradation. We have also identified a neddylation-activity-defective c-Cbl mutation from leukemia patients, implying a link between aberrant TβRII neddylation and leukemia development.

Isolation, Expression Pattern, Polymorphism and Association Analysis of Porcine TIAF1 Gene

Wang, Y.,Xiong, Y.Z.,Ren, Z.Q.,Zuo, B.,Lei, M.G.,Deng, C.Y. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2009 Animal Bioscience Vol.22 No.3

TIAF1 is a TGF-${\beta}$1-induced anti-apoptotic factor that plays a critical role in blocking TNF (tumor necrosis factor) cytotoxicity in mouse fibroblasts and participates in TGF-${\beta}$-mediated growth regulation. In this study, we obtained the full-length cDNA sequence of the porcine TIAF1 gene. Real-time PCR further revealed that the TIAF1 gene was expressed at the highest level in liver and kidney with prominent expressions detected in uterus, and lower levels detected in heart, spleen, lung, stomach, small intestine, skeletal muscle and fat of Large White pigs. Sequence analysis indicated that a 6 base-pair deletion mutation existed in the exon of the TIAF1 gene between Meishan and Large White pigs. This mutation induced deletion of Gln and Val amino acids. PCR-RFLP was used to detect the polymorphism in 394 pigs of a "Large White${\times}$Meishan" $F_{2}$ resource population and four purebred pig populations. The frequencies of the A allele (with a 6 bp deletion) were dominant in Chinese Meishan and Bamei pigs, and the frequencies of the B allele (no 6 bp deletion) were dominant in Large White and Landrace pigs. Association analyses revealed that the deletion mutation had highly significant associations (p<0.01) with meat marbling score of the thorax-waist longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle (MM1) and intramuscular fat percentage (IMF), and significant associations (p<0.05) with carcass length (CL). The results presented here supply evidence that the 6 bp deletion mutation in the TIAF1 gene affects porcine meat quality and provides useful information for further porcine breeding.

Oviduct-specific Glycoprotein 1 Locus is Associated with Litter Size and Weight of Ovaries in Pigs

Niu, B.Y.,Xiong, Y.Z.,Li, F.E.,Jiang, S.W.,Deng, C.Y.,Ding, S.H.,Guo, W.H.,Lei, M.G.,Zheng, R.,Zuo, B.,Xu, D.Q.,Li, J.L. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2006 Animal Bioscience Vol.19 No.5

Oviduct-specific glycoprotein 1 (OVGP1) is implicated in playing a role in fertilization and early embryo development. In this study, we have obtained the sequence of intron 9 of OVGP1 gene in swine. Comparative sequencing of Meishan (a native Chinese breed) and Large White pig breeds revealed an A/T substitution at position 943. A PCR-EcoRI-RFLP assay was developed to detect this mutation. Polymorphism analysis in Qingping animals showed that pigs with BB genotype had lower number of piglets born alive (NBA) in multiple parities than pigs with AA (p<0.05) and AB genotype (p<0.01). In Large $White{\times}Meishan$ ($LW{\times}M$) $F_2$ offspring, the weight of both ovaries (OW) of the BB genotype was significantly lighter than that of AB (p = 0.05) and AA (p<0.01) genotypes. Analysis of the data also revealed that the mutation locus affected these two traits mostly by additive effects. These studies indicated that the polymorphism was associated with NBA and OW in two distinct populations and further investigations in more purebreds or crossbreds are needed to confirm these results.

Comparison of Gene Expression Patterns in Longissimus dorsi of Pigs between the High-parent Heterosis Cross Combination andrace×Large White and the Mid-parent Heterosis Cross Combination Large White×Meishan

Liu, G.Y.,Xiong, Y.Z.,Deng, C.Y.,Zuo, B.,Zhang, J.H. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2004 Animal Bioscience Vol.17 No.9

In order to detect the molecular mechanism of heterosis in pigs, the mRNA differential display technique was performed to investigate the differences in gene expression of pig's Longissimus dorsi between the high-parent heterosis cross combination Landrace${\times}$Large White and the mid-parent heterosis cross combination Large White${\times}$Meishan. Three pig purebreds, Large White, Meishan, and Landrace and four types of reciprocal $F_1$ hybrids were analyzed using nine 3'-end anchored primers in combination with ten 5'-end arbitrary primers and nearly 7,000 reproducible bands were examined. The patterns of gene expression of each cross combination were analyzed and eight common patterns (fifteen kinds) were found. When the results from the two cross combinations were put together and compared, eight different typical expression patterns were observed, these indicated that the patterns of gene expression of these two cross combinations had obvious differences. Gene expression correlation and cluster analyses of the two cross combinations indicated that the gene expression of the mid-parent heterosis cross combination was correlated with maternal effect, but in the high-parent heterosis cross combination, paternal effect acted in the gene expression of the hybrids or the gene expression of the hybrids was biased towards one parent.

Effect of the Transformed Lactobacillus with Phytase Gene on Pig Production Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Gut Microbes and Serum Biochemical Indexes

Yin, Q.Q.,Chang, J.,Zuo, R.Y.,Chen, L.Y.,Chen, Q.X.,Wei, X.Y.,Guan, Q.F.,Sun, J.W.,Zheng, Q.H.,Yang, X.,Ren, G.Z. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2010 Animal Bioscience Vol.23 No.2

In order to improve the availability of phytase and probiotics together, a phytase gene from Aspergillus ficuum has been expressed in Lactobacillus. In this study, the transformed Lactobacillus with phytase gene was fed to pigs to determine its effect on pig production, feed conversion and gut microbes. Forty eight, 60-day-old, castrated pigs (Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Pietrain) were assigned to 6 groups, 8 pigs for each group. Group 1 was the control, group 2 was added with chlortetracycline (500 mg/kg), group 3 was added with the transformed Lactobacillus (500 mg/kg) with 20% (w/w) of calcium monohydrogen phosphate (CMP, $CaHPO_{4}$) removed, group 4 was added with the natural Lactobacillus (500 mg/kg) with 20% (w/w) of CMP removed, group 5 was added with the transformed Lactobacillus (500 mg/kg) with 40% (w/w) of CMP removed, group 6 was added with phytase (500 mg/kg) with 40% (w/w) of CMP removed. The results showed: i) the average daily gain (ADG) was improved in groups 2, 3 and 4 (p<0.05); ii) the diarrhea rates in the groups added with Lactobacillus were lower than in the other groups (p<0.05), in which the transformed Lactobacillus had more effect on reducing digestive disease; iii) the transformed Lactobacillus was most effective in improving the digestibilities of crude protein (CP), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), compared with the other groups (p<0.05); iv) Lactobacillus could increase lactic acid bacterium number and ammonia concentrations, and decrease pH values and E. coli number in pig feces (p<0.05); v) the phytase activity in the feces of pigs fed with the transformed Lactobacillus was 133.32 U/g, which was higher than in group 4 (9.58 U/g, p<0.05), and was almost the same as group 6 (135.94 U/g); vi) the transformed Lactobacillus could increase serum concentrations of IgA, triglyceride, and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase activity (p<0.05), and had no significant effect on other serum indexes (p>0.05).

Effect of α-Fe Content on the Magnetic Properties of MnBi/α-Fe Nanocomposite Permanent Magnets by Micro-magnetic Calculation

Y. Q. Li,M. Yue,J. H. Zuo,D. T. Zhang,W. Q. Liu,J. X. Zhang,Z. H. Guo,W. Li 한국자기학회 2013 Journal of Magnetics Vol.18 No.3

A finite element model was built for MnBi/α-Fe nanocomposite permanent magnets, and the demagnetization curves of the magnets were simulated by micro-magnetic calculation. The microstructure of the cubic model is composed of 64 irregular grains with an average grain size of 20 nm. With the volume fraction of soft magnetic phase (t vol. %) ranged from 5 to 20 vol. %, both isotropic and anisotropic nanocomposite magnets show typical single-phase permanent magnets behavior in their demagnetization curves, illustrating good intergranular exchange coupling effect between soft and hard magnetic phases. With the increase of volume fraction of soft magnetic phase in both isotropic and anisotropic magnets, the coercive force of the magnets decreases monotonically, while the remanence rises at first to a peak value, then decreases. The optimal values of maximum energy products of isotropic and anisotropic magnets are 84 and 200 kJ/m3, respectively. Our simulation shows that the MnBi/α-Fe nanocomposite permanent magnets own excellent magnetic properties and therefore good potential for practical applications.

Propofol reverses oxidative stress-attenuated glutamate transporter EAAT3 activity: Evidence of protein kinase C involvement

Yun, J.Y.,Park, K.S.,Kim, J.H.,Do, S.H.,Zuo, Z. North-Holland 2007 European journal of pharmacology Vol.565 No.1-3

The authors investigated the effects of propofol on EAAT3 (excitatory amino acid transporter 3) activity under oxidative stress induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP), and the mediation of these effects by protein kinase C (PKC). Rat EAAT3 was expressed in Xenopus oocytes and L-glutamate (30 μM)-induced membrane currents were measured using the two-electrode voltage clamp technique. Exposure of these oocytes to t-BHP (1-20 mM) for 10 min dose-dependently decreased EAAT3 activity, and t-BHP (5 mM) significantly decreased the V<SUB>max</SUB>, but not the K<SUB>m</SUB> of EAAT3 for glutamate, and propofol (1-100 μM) dose-dependently reversed this t-BHP-attenuated EAAT3 activity. Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (a PKC activator), also abolished this t-BHP-induced reduction in EAAT3 activity, whereas staurosporine (a PKC inhibitor), significantly decreased EAAT3 activity. However, as compared with staurosporine or t-BHP alone, t-BHP and staurosporine in combination did not further reduce EAAT3 activity. A similar pattern was observed for chelerythrine (also a PKC inhibitor). In oocytes pretreated with combinations of t-BHP and PMA (or staurosporine), propofol failed to change EAAT3 activity. Our results suggest that propofol restores oxidative stress-reduced EAAT3 activity and that these effects of propofol may be PKC-mediated.

New Evidences of Effect of Melanocortin-4 Receptor and Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 Genes on Fat Deposition and Carcass Traits in Different Pig Populations

Chen, J.F.,Xiong, Y.Z.,Zuo, B.,Zheng, R.,Li, F.E.,Lei, M.G.,Li, J.L.,Deng, C.Y.,Jiang, S.W. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2005 Animal Bioscience Vol.18 No.11

The Melanocortin-4 Receptor (MC4R) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2) are two important candidate genes related to fat deposition and carcass traits. MC4R was found on study on human obesity and then was studied as candidate gene affecting food intake and fat deposition traits in mice and pigs. Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2) gene plays an important role on tumor cell proliferation and muscle growth. It also affects fat traits and live weight in pigs. In this paper, MC4R and IGF2 were studied as two candidate genes associated with important economic traits such as fat deposition and carcass traits in five different pig populations. Taq I-PCR-RFLP and Bcn I-PCR-RFLP were respectively used to detect the polymorphism of genotypes of MC4R and IGF2 genes. Different MC4R genotype frequencies were observed in four populations. IGF2 genotype frequencies were also different in two populations. The results of association analysis show both MC4R and IGF2 genes were significantly associated with fat deposition and carcass traits in about 300 pigs. This work will add new evidence of MC4R and IGF2 affecting fat deposition and carcass traits in pigs and show that two genes can be used as important candidate genes for marker assistant selection (MAS) of growth and lean meat percentage in pigs.

THREE-SPEED TRANSMISSION SYSTEM FOR PURELYELECTRIC VEHICLES

Z. ZHANG,C. ZUO,W. HAO,Y. ZUO,X. L. ZHAO,M. ZHANG 한국자동차공학회 2013 International journal of automotive technology Vol.14 No.5

This paper discusses the necessity of using a transmission system to improve the energy efficiency of purelyelectric vehicles (EVs). The energy efficiency of an electric motor varies at different operating points to meet the output powerdemand. The three gear ratios of a transmission system can maintain the motor speed within a stable region with relativelyhigh energy efficiency, while various vehicle speeds are needed. This work is based on a light EV prototype. The optimizedgear ratios of this transmission result in a considerably reduced energy consumption of 9.3% compared with conventional EVswith single-speed reducers under the condition of the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule driving cycle. Thus, thetransmission system is necessary to improve the energy efficiency of EVs.