山羊转录因子及其功能研究进展

Research Progresses on Transcription Factors and Related Biological Functions in Goat

山羊可提供丰富的肉、乳、绒、毛等畜产品。转录因子是一类结合特异DNA片段的蛋白质,通过调节基因表达影响山羊的各类经济性状。本文概括了约42个转录因子在绒毛、繁殖、泌乳和产肉等生产性状的功能,发现与模式生物相比,山羊转录因子功能的研究还不深入和系统:山羊已知转录因子的数目少于模式生物;已知转录因子的功能较单一,多功能转录因子的研究相对较少;大部分研究关注转录因子表达与表型的关联,对转录因子结合位点及其靶基因等机制尚未清晰阐述。为深入理解调控山羊经济性状的分子机理,今后可采用高通量技术和生物信息学等方法,从系统生物学的角度预测转录因子及靶基因、挖掘和解析关键调控模块。

Goat could provide abundant meat, milk, cashmere, wool and other economic products. Transcription factors(TFs)are proteins binding to specific DNA sequences to regulate transcription and greatly affect the formation of complex traits in livestock by regulating gene expression. In this paper, we summarized the functions of 42 goat TFs on the growth and development of villi, reproduction, lactation and meat production. Compared with model organisms, the functions of goat TFs were not systematically analyzed. First, the known number of goat TFs is far less than that of model organisms. Second,the known functions of TFs are relatively specific to certain biological processes. There are not enough studies of multifunctional TFs. Third, the current researches only focus on the relationships between TFs expression and phenotype, and the regulatory mechanisms of TFs binding sites and their target genes have not been clearly described. Therefore, in order to deeply understand the regulatory molecular mechanism of important economic traits in goats and improve the comprehensive understanding of the function of TFs, high-throughput technology and bioinformatics methods could be applied to predict goat genome-wide TFs and target genes using system biology, dynamic regulatory network and key regulatory modules.