Multi-omics integrated analysis reveals the molecular mechanism of tail fat deposition differences in sheep with different tail types.

Background: The accumulation of tail fat in sheep is a manifestation of adaptive evolution to the environment. Sheep with different tail types show significant differences in physiological functions and tail fat deposition. Although these differences reflect the developmental mechanism of tail fat under different gene regulation, the situation of sheep tail fat tissue at the single cell level has not been explored, and its molecular mechanism still needs to be further elucidated.

Results: Here, we characterized the genomic features of sheep with different tail types, detected the transcriptomic differences in tail adipose tissue between fat-tailed and thin-tailed sheep, established a single-cell atlas of sheep tail adipose tissue, and screened potential molecular markers (SESN1, RPRD1A and RASGEF1B) that regulate differences in sheep tail fat deposition through multi-omics integrated analysis. We found that the differential mechanism of sheep tail fat deposition not only involves adipocyte differentiation and proliferation, but is also closely related to cell-specific communication networks (When adipocytes act as signal outputters, LAMININ and other signal pathways are strongly expressed in guangling large tailed sheep and hu sheep), including interactions with immune cells and tissue remodeling to drive the typing of tail fat. In addition, we revealed the differentiation trajectory of sheep tail adipocytes through pseudo-time analysis and constructed the cell communication network of sheep tail adipose tissue.

Conclusions: Our results provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of tail fat deposition in sheep with different tail types, and provide a deeper explanation for the development and functional regulation of adipocytes.