Understanding biological mechanisms is fundamental for improving animal production and health to meet the growing demand for high-quality protein. As an emerging biotechnology, single-cell transcriptomics has been gradually applied in diverse aspects of animal research, offering an effective method to study the gene expression of high-throughput single cells of different tissues/organs in animals. In an unprecedented manner, researchers have identified cell types/subtypes and their marker genes, inferred cellular fate trajectories, and revealed cell‒cell interactions in animals using single-cell transcriptomics. In this paper, we introduce the development of single-cell technology and review the processes, advancements, and applications of single-cell transcriptomics in animal research. We summarize recent efforts using single-cell transcriptomics to obtain a more profound understanding of animal nutrition and health, reproductive performance, genetics, and disease models in different livestock species. Moreover, the practical experience accumulated based on a large number of cases is highlighted to provide a reference for determining key factors (e.g., sample size, cell clustering, and cell type annotation) in single-cell transcriptomics analysis. We also discuss the limitations and outlook of single-cell transcriptomics in the current stage. This paper describes the comprehensive progress of single-cell transcriptomics in animal research, offering novel insights and sustainable advancements in agricultural productivity and animal health.

中文翻译：

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动物研究中单细胞转录组学的进展


了解生物学机制对于改善动物生产和健康以满足对优质蛋白质不断增长的需求至关重要。作为一种新兴的生物技术，单细胞转录组学已逐渐应用于动物研究的各个方面，为研究动物不同组织/器官的高通量单细胞基因表达提供了有效的方法。研究人员以前所未有的方式识别了细胞类型/亚型及其标记基因，推断了细胞命运轨迹，并利用单细胞转录组学揭示了动物中细胞与细胞的相互作用。本文介绍了单细胞技术的发展，综述了单细胞转录组学在动物研究中的进展、进展和应用。我们总结了最近使用单细胞转录组学来更深入地了解不同牲畜物种的动物营养和健康、繁殖性能、遗传学和疾病模型的努力。此外，还强调基于大量案例积累的实践经验，为确定单细胞转录组学分析中的关键因素（例如样本量、细胞聚类和细胞类型注释）提供参考。我们还讨论了现阶段单细胞转录组学的局限性和前景。本文描述了单细胞转录组学在动物研究中的全面进展，为农业生产力和动物健康提供了新颖的见解和可持续的进步。