Description |
Forest Musk Deer (Moschus berezovskii flerov) is a rare and endangered medicinal economic animal in China. Musk secreted by its male sachet is a precious traditional Chinese medicine. Previous studies have shown that different mating states (mated and unmated) of the males in the previous year have certain influence on the musk yield in current year. In addition, the chemical composition and microbiota of musk are different during musk secretion (PMSP: Prime musk-secreting period, VMSP: Vigorous musk-secreting period and LMSP: Later musk-secreting period). However, the factors affecting musk yields and the molecular mechanisms regulating musk secretion remain unknown. In this study, we selected 30 healthy young musk deer (15 for mated and unmated males, respectively) in the previous year, recorded its body weight and musk yields, took samples of musk and blood during musk secretion. Then estimated their phenotype characteristics and the content of testosterone (sex hormone), conducted 16 S rRNA sequencing and GC-MS to detect their microbiome and chemical components. |