Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41566606›Full record

ArticleAdvanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)2026

Comparative Single-Cell Transcriptomic Atlas Reveals the Genetic Regulation of Reproductive Traits.

Bingru Zhao, Hanpeng Luo, Dailu Guan, Xuefeng Fu, Feng Wang, Guoming Zhang, Shanglai Li, Hua Yang, Yanli Zhang

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Bingru ZhaoJiangsu Livestock Embryo Engineering Laboratory, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0140-8654
Hanpeng LuoDepartment of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6211-3834
Dailu GuanDepartment of Animal Science, University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA.
Xuefeng FuKey Laboratory of Genetics Breeding and Reproduction of Xinjiang Wool-Sheep Cashmere-goat (XJYS1105), Institute of Animal Science, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Sciences, Urumqi, China.
Feng WangJiangsu Livestock Embryo Engineering Laboratory, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Guoming ZhangJiangsu Livestock Embryo Engineering Laboratory, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Shanglai LiJiangsu Livestock Embryo Engineering Laboratory, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Hua YangJiangsu Livestock Embryo Engineering Laboratory, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Yanli ZhangJiangsu Livestock Embryo Engineering Laboratory, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7901-7774

Funding

China Agriculture Research System CARS-38Excellent Postdoctoral Program in Jiangsu Province 2023ZB584Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities YDZX2025004National Key R&D Program of China 2021YFF1000702National Natural Science Foundation of China 32402755National Natural Science Foundation of China 32441081Project of Seed Industry Revitalization in Jiangsu Province JBGS[2021]113
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Reproduction is a fundamental biological process regulated by complex cellular and molecular networks across the neuroendocrine and reproductive systems. To explore conserved and species-specific mechanisms of fertility regulation, we constructed a high-resolution single-cell transcriptomic atlas of 15 reproductive and central nervous system (CNS) tissues from sheep and integrated it with human single-cell datasets from 13 matched tissues. This comparative atlas comprises over 1.09 million cells and identifies 76 major cell types across species. Cross-species integration based on 15 748 orthologous genes revealed that 54 cell types (71.1%) are shared between sheep and humans, showing strong conservation in transcriptional programs, cell lineage trajectories, and regulatory networks. Integrating genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for sheep lifetime average litter size with the single-cell atlas identified crucial fertility-associated genes and signaling pathways. Cell-cell communication analysis revealed UNC5-SLIT-BMP signaling cascades coordinating neuroendocrine regulation of fertility along the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary (HPO) axis. Trait-cell type enrichment analyses for 41 human complex traits further demonstrated that conserved reproductive and CNS cell types in sheep recapitulate key human GWAS associations. Together, this cross-species single-cell atlas (https://csca.njau.edu.cn/) provides a valuable resource for understanding how conserved cellular programs and inter-organ signaling networks regulate fertility and other complex traits.

Indexed as

FertilityGene Expression RegulationReproductionSingle-Cell AnalysisTranscriptomeAnimalsFemaleGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansSheepSingle-Cell Gene Expression Analysiscross‐species comparisonsevolutionary conservationGWAS integrationreproductive biologysingle‐cell transcriptomics

Identifiers

PMID41566606
PMCPMC13042767

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.