Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the STAT Family in Reeve's Turtle (Mauremys reevesii).

The Stat (signal transducer and activator of transcription) gene family plays a vital role in regulating immunity and the processes of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis across diverse organisms. Although the functions of Stat genes in immunity have been extensively documented in many mammals, limited data are available for reptiles. We used phylogenetic analysis to identify eight putative members of the Stat family (Stat1-1, Stat1-2, Stat2, Stat3, Stat4, Stat5b, Stat6-1, and Stat6-2) within the genome of M. reevesii, a freshwater turtle found in East Asia. Sequence analysis showed that the Stat genes contain four conserved structural domains protein interaction domain, coiled-coil domain, DNA-binding domain, and Src homology domain 2. In addition, Stat1, Stat2, and Stat6 contain TAZ2bind, Apolipo_F, and TALPID3 structural domains. The mRNA levels of Stat genes were upregulated in spleen tissues at 4, 8, 12, and 16 h after administration of lipopolysaccharide, a potent activator of the immune system. Stat5b expression at 12-h LPS post-injection exhibited the most substantial difference from the control. The expression of Stat5b in spleen tissue cellular was verified by immunofluorescence. These results suggest that Stat5b plays a role in the immune response of M. reevesii and may prove to be as a positive marker of an immune response in future studies.

Structural variations in crocodile lizard populations provide novel insights into genomic variations in endangered animals.

Population-scale genome resequencing of endangered animals may contribute to gaining an understanding of how genomes vary as population sizes become smaller, as well as the functional implications of such variation. In this study, we analysed structural variations and gene presence and absence variations in the genomes of population of the endangered crocodile lizards. We found that the frequencies of some genes showed significant differences between crocodile lizards in different regions, indicating the influence of environmental selection, as well as potential contributions from demography and isolation, in shaping gene presence and absence variations. The haplotype diversity of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes was also found to differ among crocodile lizards inhabiting different regions. These findings indicate that well-designed interbreeding of crocodile lizards from different regions may facilitate the exchange of genes between different lizard populations and increase the haplotype diversity of MHC genes, which may be beneficial for the survival of these lizards. Our findings in this study, based on differences in gene structural variation, provide new insights into genomic variation and may contribute to the conservation of endangered animals.