Skin Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Key Genes in Fur Development of Chinese Tan Sheep During Birth and Er-mao Periods

The study analyzed the skin transcriptomes of Chinese Tan sheep during the birth and Er-mao periods, using RNA-seq technology on 6 sheep in total. Researchers identified 364 differentially expressed genes, with 168 upregulated and 196 downregulated. The most significantly differentially expressed gene was the FOS proto-oncogene, with a fold change of 22.67 and a P value of 2.15*10^-44. KEGG analysis indicated that the FOS gene was significantly involved in the signaling pathway related to hair follicle development. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that FOS was expressed in both periods, with notably higher expression during the Er-mao period. The study concluded that the FOS gene played a role in promoting hair follicle development in Tan sheep.