基于转录组和蛋白质组分析筛选银黑狐毛色形成的关键基因

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中图分类号：S813.3 文献标志码：A 文章编号：0366-6964（2025）09-4379-14

Screening of Key Genes for Coat Color Formation in Silver Fox Based on Transcriptome and Proteome Analyses

LI Jiapeng，LIU Qing，SUN Jiayu，MA Zefang，CUI Kai* （College of Animal Science and Technology，Qingdao Agricultural University ， Qingdao 266109，China）

Abstract：This study aimed to screen for key genes influencing coat color formation in silver foxes.Under the same feeding conditions，4 healthy male silver foxes and 4 healthy male red foxes of similar weight at 9 months of age were selected and divided into the silver fox group （YS） and the red fox group （CS）. The mid-dorsal skin samples of the two groups were collected for transcriptome sequencing （RNA-Seq） and quantitative proteome sequencing with tandem mass tagging（TMT），and differentially expressed genes （DEGs） and differentially expressed proteins（DEPs） were screened and analysed for functional enrichment， to identify candidate genes related to the formation of coat colour in silver foxes. The results showed that a total of 2 403 differentially expressed genes （DEGs） and 2O3 differentially expressed proteins （DEPs）

were identified in the skin of the silver fox compared with the red fox. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that 15 DEGs and 6 DEPs were involved in melanin biosynthesis and metabolic processes through melanin synthesis， PI3K-Akt，cAMP， Wnt，and MAPK signaling pathways. Correlation analysis between transcriptomic and proteomic data indicated that 12 genes， including TYRP1 and NRAS，exhibited consistent significant changes at both mRNA and protein expression levels. Protein-protein interaction （PPI） network analysis： further confirmed that TYRP1，NRAS，MLANA，LEF1，TYR，KITLG，EDNRB，GSK3β，AKT2 and ERBB3 were key genes in melanin synthesis. Validation of the sequencing results was performed using RT-qPCR and Western blot analyses. In this study， TYRP1 and NRAS were identified as possible key candidate genes affecting the coat color phenotype of the silver fox， providing a theoretical basis for the molecular regulatory mechanism of coat color formation in the silver fox and for molecular breeding of foxes.

Keywords：fox；coat color;transcriptome;proteome;key genes ∗ Corresponding author：CUI Kai，E-mail ：qdndcuikai@163.com

银黑狐（Vulpesvulpesfulua）作为主要狐属经济动物，是赤狐（Vulpesuulpes）在野生自然条件下的毛色突变狐，二者毛色存在显著差异[1]。（剩余19648字）