Whole-Genome Resequencing of Worldwide Wild and Domestic Sheep Elucidates Genetic Diversity, Introgression, and Agronomically Important Loci.

Domestic sheep and their wild relatives harbor substantial genetic variants that can form the backbone of molecular breeding, but their genome landscapes remain understudied. Here, we present a comprehensive genome resource for wild ovine species, landraces and improved breeds of domestic sheep, comprising high-coverage (∼16.10×) whole genomes of 810 samples from 7 wild species and 158 diverse domestic populations. We detected, in total, ∼121.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms, ∼61 million of which are novel. Some display significant (P < 0.001) differences in frequency between wild and domestic species, or are private to continent-wide or individual sheep populations. Retained or introgressed wild gene variants in domestic populations have contributed to local adaptation, such as the variation in the HBB associated with plateau adaptation. We identified novel and previously reported targets of selection on morphological and agronomic traits such as stature, horn, tail configuration, and wool fineness. We explored the genetic basis of wool fineness and unveiled a novel mutation (chr25: T7,068,586C) in the 3'-UTR of IRF2BP2 as plausible causal variant for fleece fiber diameter. We reconstructed prehistorical migrations from the Near Eastern domestication center to South-and-Southeast Asia and found two main waves of migrations across the Eurasian Steppe and the Iranian Plateau in the Early and Late Bronze Ages. Our findings refine our understanding of genome variation as shaped by continental migrations, introgression, adaptation, and selection of sheep.

Comparative Transcriptome Analyses of the Developmental Stages of Taenia multiceps.

Cerebral coenurosis, caused by the larvae of Taenia multiceps (Coenurus cerebralis), is a fatal central nervous system disease in sheep and other herbivores and occasionally humans. Comparative transcriptomic profiles of the developmental stages of the parasite remain unknown. In this study, RNA sequencing was used to determine the transcriptome profiles of different stages of the life cycle of T. multiceps, including Oncosphere, Coenurus cerebralis (Pro with Cyst), and Adult (Adu), as well as scolex-neck proglottids (Snp), immature-mature proglottids (Imp), and gravid proglottids (Grp) of the adult stage. A total of 42.6 Gb (average 6.1 Gb) Illumina pair-end reads with a 125-bp read length were generated for seven samples. The total number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the various life stages ranged from 2,577 to 3,879; however, for the tissues of the adult worm, the range was from 1,229 to 1,939. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that the DEGs mainly participated in cellular and metabolic processes, binding and catalytic activity, genetic information processing, and environmental information processing. In addition, a large number of genes related to development and parasite-host interaction were identified. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction confirmed that the levels of 28 selected DEGs were consistent with those determined using RNA sequencing. The present study provides insights into the mechanisms of the development and parasitic life of T. multiceps.

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation as an adjunctive therapy to drotaverine hydrochloride for treating patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome: A retrospective study.

This retrospective study investigated the effectiveness and safety of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) as an adjunctive therapy to drotaverine hydrochloride (DHC) in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (BP-IBS).A total of 108 patient cases with BP-IBS were included in this study. Of these, 54 cases were assigned to a treatment group and received NMES and DHC, whereas the other 54 subjects were assigned to a control group and underwent DHC alone. All patients were treated for a total of 4 weeks. Primary outcomes were measured by the visual analog scale (VAS), and average weekly stool frequency. Secondary outcome was measured by the Bristol scale. In addition, adverse events were documented. All outcome measurements were analyzed before and after 4-week treatment.Patients in the treatment group did not show better effectiveness in VAS (P = .14), and average weekly stool frequency (P = .42), as well as the Bristol scale (P = .71), compared with the patients in the control group. Moreover, no significant differences in adverse events were found between 2 groups.The results of this study showed that NMES as an adjunctive therapy to DHC may be not efficacious for patients with BP-IBS after 4-week treatment.