Musk secretion in muskrats(Ondatra zibethicus L.):association with lipid and cholesterol metabolism-related pathways  

作　　者：TIANXIANG ZHANG MEISHAN ZHANG MINGHUI SHI WEIJIANG JIN SHUMIAO ZHANG MENGYUAN FAN YIMENG LI YUPING MENG XUELIN TIAN SHUQIANG LIU DEFU HU 

机构地区：[1]School of Ecology and Nature Conservation,Beijing Forestry University,Beijing,100083,China [2]Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center,Beijing,100083,China [3]China Wildlife Conservation Association,Beijing,100083,China [4]Jining Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Jining,272000,China

出　　处：《BIOCELL》2021年第2期281-306,共26页生物细胞（英文）

基　　金：This work was supported by Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation(Grant No.5202016);Fundamental research funds for the central universities(Grant No.2019YC18).

摘　　要：Male muskrats(Ondatra zibethicus L.)secrete musk from their scent glands during musk secretion season.Musk plays an important role as a communication pheromone during the breeding season.In this study,gas chromatography–mass spectrometry(GC–MS)was used to analyze the main components of musk.The GC–MS results after methyl esterification showed that 71.55%of the musk is composed of fatty acids.The other components of muskrat musk include cholesterol(9.31%)and other organics.Transcriptome comparison between musk secretion and non-secretion seasons showed significant changes in the scent glands for 53 genes involved in fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis and metabolism regulatory pathways,which include fatty acid biosynthesis,elongation,and metabolism;steroid biosynthesis;steroid hormone biosynthesis pathways.A reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed these detected changes.Overall,our results indicated that lipid synthesis and metabolism play important roles in musk compound synthesis by providing energy for musk production,and the produced musk provides a mechanism for male muskrats to communicate with females during the breeding season.

关 键 词：MUSKRAT Scent gland RNA-seq Lipid CHOLESTEROL 

分 类 号：O62[理学—有机化学]