We then examined genes implicated in the process of vascular calcification in a wide array of cardiovascular tissues and across multiple developmental stages, using RT-qPCR. Our results demonstrate that there is a balance between genes that promote and those that suppress mineralization during development and across cardiovascular tissues. We show extensive expression of genes encoding proteins involved in formation and maintenance of the extracellular matrix in cardiovascular tissues, and high expression of hematopoietic genes in the cardiac valves. Our analysis will support future research into the functions of implicated genes in the development of valve calcification, and increase the utility of the sheep as a large animal model for understanding ectopic calcification in cardiovascular disease. This study provides a foundation to explore the transcriptome of the developing cardiovascular system and is a valuable resource for the fields of mammalian genomics and cardiovascular research.Alternative splicing is involved in the pathogenesis of human diseases, including cancer. Here, we investigated the potential application of alternative splicing events (ASEs) and splicing factors (SFs) in the prognosis of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Transcriptome data from 79 ACC cases were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, and percent spliced-in values of seven splicing types were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas SpliceSeq database. By the univariate Cox regression analysis, 1,839 survival-related ASEs were identified. Prognostic indices based on seven types of survival-related ASEs were calculated by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Survival curves and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess the diagnostic value of the prognostic model. Independent prognosis analysis identified several ASEs (e.g., THNSL2| 54469| ME) that could be used as biomarkers to predict the prognosis of patients with ACC accurately. By analyzing the co-expression correlation between SFs and ASEs, 188 highly correlated interactions were established. From the protein interaction network, we finally screened six hub SFs, including YBX1, SART1, PRCC, SNRPG, SNRPE, and SF3B4, whose expression levels were significantly related to the overall survival and prognosis of ACC. Our findings provide a reliable model for predicting the prognosis of ACC patients based on aberrant alternative splicing patterns.Milk fatty acids secreted by the mammary gland are one of the most important determinants of the nutritional value of goat milk. Unlike cow milk, limited data are available on the transcriptome-wide changes across stages of lactation in dairy goats. In this study, goat mammary gland tissue collected at peak lactation, cessation of milking, and involution were analyzed with digital gene expression (DGE) sequencing to generate longitudinal transcript profiles. #link# A total of 51,299 unigenes were identified and further annotated to 12,763 genes, of which 9,131 were differentially expressed across various stages of lactation. Most abundant genes and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were functionally classified through clusters of euKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG), Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases. A total of 16 possible expression patterns were uncovered, and 13 genes were deemed novel candidates for regulation of lactation in the goat POLG, SPTA1, KLC, GIT2, COPS3, PDP, CD31, USP16/29/37, TLL1, NCAPH, ABI2, DNAJC4, and MAPK8IP3. In addition, PLA2, CPT1, PLD, GGA, SRPRB, and AP4S1 are proposed as novel and promising candidates regulating mammary fatty acid metabolism. “Butirosin and neomycin biosynthesis” and “Glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism” were the most impacted pathways, and revealed novel metabolic alterations in lipid metabolism as lactation progressed. Overall, the present study provides new insights into the synthesis and metabolism of fatty acids and lipid species in the mammary gland along with more detailed information on molecular regulation of lactogenesis. The major findings will benefit efforts to further improve milk quality in dairy goats.Introduction Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread around the globe. Susceptibility has been associated with age, biological sex, and other prior existing health conditions. However, host genes are involved in viral infectivity and pathogenicity, and polymorphisms in these could be responsible for the interethnic/interindividual variability observed in infection and progression of COVID-19. Materials and Methods Clinical exome data of 103 individuals was analyzed to identify sequence variants in five selected candidate genes ACE2, TMPRSS2, CD209, IFITM3, and MUC5B to assess their prevalence and role to understand the COVID-19 infectivity and progression in our population. Results A total of 497 polymorphisms were identified in the five selected genes in the exomes analyzed. Thirty-eight polymorphisms identified in our cohort have been reported earlier in literature and have functional significance or association with health conditions. These variants were classified into three groups protective, susceptible, and responsible for comorbidities. Ezatiostat inhibitor and Conclusion The two polymorphisms described in literature as risk inducing are rs35705950 in MUC5B gene and TMPRSS2 haplotype (rs463727, rs34624090, rs55964536, rs734056, rs4290734, rs34783969, rs11702475, rs35899679, and rs35041537) were absent in our cohort explaining the slower infectivity of the disease in this part of India. The 38 functional variants identified can be used as a predisposition panel for the COVID-19 infectivity and progression and stratify individuals as “high or low risk,” which would help in planning appropriate surveillance and management protocols. A larger study from different regions of India is warranted to validate these results.Though it is well-acknowledged that next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies can provide further insights into plant conservation management than traditional molecular markers, studies employing NGS to address conservation genomics and subsequent conservation strategies for threatened plants are still rare. Rhododendron is the largest genus of woody plants in China, and many species are threatened, however, to date there has been no conservation genetic research using NGS in this genus. In the present study, we investigated the conservation genetics of R. cyanocarpum, a threatened species endemic to the Cangshan Mountains in Yunnan, China, using a double digest restriction-site-associated DNA-sequencing (ddRAD-seq) approach. Due to the availability of sufficient SNPs, we were able to distinguish between neutral and putatively selected SNPs and were able to further investigate the genetic diversity, population structure, and differentiation in R. cyanocarpum, as well as make an estimation of its demographic history.