Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Histological Analysis, Bioinformatics Profile, and Expression of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) in Bovine Testes

Seth Yaw Afedo
* ORCID logo ,
Yan Cui
* ,
Sijiu Yu
,
Bo Liao
,
Zihan Zhao
,
Hui Li
,
Huizhu Zhang
,
Shengnan Zou
,
De Hong Li
,
Peng Zhang
Version 1 : Received: 29 August 2020 / Approved: 30 August 2020 / Online: 30 August 2020 (15:00:47 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Afedo, S.Y.; Cui, Y.; Yu, S.; Liao, B.; Zhao, Z.; Li, H.; Zhang, H.; Zou, S.; Li, D.H.; Zhang, P. Histological Analysis, Bioinformatics Profile, and Expression of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) in Bovine Testes. Animals 2020, 10, 1731. Afedo, S.Y.; Cui, Y.; Yu, S.; Liao, B.; Zhao, Z.; Li, H.; Zhang, H.; Zou, S.; Li, D.H.; Zhang, P. Histological Analysis, Bioinformatics Profile, and Expression of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) in Bovine Testes. Animals 2020, 10, 1731.

Abstract

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), an enzyme expressed in mammalian testes exerts direct effect on spermatogenesis; however, its protein characteristics in bovine testes remain unknown. Here, we analysed bovine testicular structure, MTHFR bioinformatics profile, mRNA, and protein expression characteristics in yellow-cattle (y-c) and yak testis using histological procedures, bioinformatics analysis, qRT-PCR, and western blot. Testes from 13 bovines, ≤ 2 years juvenile (y-c, n = 3; yak, n=3) and ≥ 3 years adult (y-c, n = 3; yak, n = 4) were collected and analysed. Anatomical characteristics of testis in y-c and yak were similar except the weight or size for which that of y-c was significantly higher or greater than yak. In y-c, an open reading frame (ORF) for 2600 nucleotides sequence, encoding 655 amino acids showed high homology with zebu cattle (99.51%) and wild yak (98.68%). Secondary and 3D protein structures were similar to that of humans with differences in number of nucleotides, amino acids, and some physico-chemical characteristics. MTHFR mRNA expression in y-c and yak were significantly higher in adult testes compared with juvenile ones. However, its protein expression was higher but not statistically significant in adult y-c and yak compared to the juvenile ones. The highlights and inferences of these and other findings are discussed.

Keywords

MTHFR; bovine; bioinformatics; gene expression; testes

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Cell and Developmental Biology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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