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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Livestock Genomics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1564148
This article is part of the Research Topic Epigenetics and multi-omics studies of important traits in livestock View all 5 articles
Regulatory element map of sheep reproductive tissues: functional annotation of tissue-specific strong active enhancers
Provisionally accepted
Zhu Meng 1,2
Mingxing Chu 2 Hao Yang 2
Shiweng Zhang 2 Qiangjun Wang 1 Jiahong Chen 1 Chunhuan Ren 1
Zhangyuan Pan 2*
Zijun Zhang 1*- 1 Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
- 2 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying complex traits and diseases requires comprehensive functional genomic annotation. Although partial functional annotations exist for certain sheep tissues, a prominent domesticated species, systematic annotation of reproductive tissues remains limited. In this study, transcriptomic and epigenomic data from 60 samples across five reproductive tissues were integrated. Utilizing an integrated multi-omics approach, we have constructed the inaugural atlas of regulatory elements in ovine reproductive tissues and have investigated their functions in relation to ovine reproductive traits and diseases. A total of 1,680,172 regulatory elements were annotated, including 83,980 tissue-specific strongly active enhancers (EnhAs). Enhancers were identified as key drivers of tissue-specific functions, regulated through sequence-specific transcription factor binding and direct modulation of target genes. Regulatory mechanisms underlying reproductive functions were linked to INHBA (ovary), KITLG (oviduct), SNAI2 (cervix), WNT7A (cornua uteri), FOLR1 (corpus uteri), and SALL1 (uterus common). Furthermore, our findings highlight sheep as an promising model for studying embryonic development and miscarriage. The study provides a theoretical foundation for the comprehension of the molecular mechanisms that underpin complex traits and diseases in sheep.
Keywords: Sheep, Regulatory element, tissue specific, Enhancer, reproductive tissues
Received: 21 Jan 2025; Accepted: 01 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Meng, Chu, Yang, Zhang, Wang, Chen, Ren, Pan and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhangyuan Pan, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100081, Beijing Municipality, China
Zijun Zhang, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
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