Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Skin Lipid Metabolism Related to Wool Diameter in Sheep

This study used high-throughput RNA-Seq technology to analyze the skin transcriptome of 6 sheep, divided into groups with fine wool (fiber diameter <21.0μm) and coarse wool (fiber diameter >27.0μm). A total of 19,914 mRNA transcripts were expressed, with 467 genes showing significant differential expression between the two groups. Notably, 21 genes were up-regulated and 446 were down-regulated in sheep with finer wool. The study found that these differentially expressed genes were enriched in processes related to lipid metabolism, skin development, differentiation, and immune function. The findings suggested that lipid metabolism might play a significant role in determining wool diameter, with a notable KEGG pathway involving lipid and lipoprotein metabolism being enriched. Validation of the results showed a high correlation (0.999, P<0.05) between qRT-PCR and RNA-Seq data.