Expression analysis of three apoptotic genes in muskrat gonads

In order to understand the development of muskrat gonads and explore the role of these apoptotic genes in the development cycle of muskrat gonads,RT-qPCR was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of three apoptotic genes in the prostate gland,seminal vesicle and testis of adult male muskrats at reproductive and non-reproductive stages,and western blot was used to verify part of the results. The results showed that the expression levels of Cytc gene,Caspase-9 gene and Apaf-1 gene in non-reprodctive period were higher than that in reprodctive period,and the differences were significant（P≤ 0.05）. Meanwhile,the mRNA expression levels of Cytc and Apaf-1 in prostate and seminal vesicle tissues were similar in reproductive and non-reproductive period,while the mRNA expression levels in testis were much higher than those in the two tissues. The changes of m RNA expression levels of Caspase9 gene in testis and seminal vesicle during reproductive and non-reproductive periods were close to each other,which was much higher than that in prostate. These results indicated that the three apoptotic genes played an important role in the atrophy of prostate,seminal vesicle and testis after reproduction.