Gao Xiaoxiao, Ye Jing, Yang Chen, Zhang Kaifa, Li Xiumei, Luo Lei, Ding Jianping, Li Yunsheng, Cao Hongguo, Ling Yinghui, Zhang Xiaorong, Liu Ya, Fang Fugui, Zhang Yunhai
Anhui Provincial Laboratory of Animal Genetic Resources Protection and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, 130 Changjiang West Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, China.
Anhui Provincial Laboratory for Local Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resource Conservation and Bio-Breeding, 130 Changjiang West Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, China.
BMC Genomics. 2017 Feb 14;18(1):164. doi: 10.1186/s12864-017-3578-9.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in regulating animal development, however, their function in the onset of puberty in goats remain largely unexplored. To identify the genes controlling the regulation of puberty in goats, we measured lncRNA and mRNA expression levels from the hypothalamus.
We applied RNA sequencing analysis to examine the hypothalamus of pubertal (case; n = 3) and prepubertal (control; n = 3) goats. Our results showed 2943 predicted lncRNAs, including 2012 differentially expressed lncRNAs, which corresponded to 5412 target genes. We also investigated the role of lncRNAs that act cis and trans to the target genes and found a number of lncRNAs involved in the regulation of puberty and reproduction, as well as several pathways related to these processes. For example, oxytocin signaling pathway, sterol biosynthetic process, and pheromone receptor activity signaling pathway were enriched as Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) or gene ontology (GO) analyses showed.
Our results clearly demonstrate that lncRNAs play an important role in regulating puberty in goats. However, further research is needed to explore the functions of lncRNAs and their predicted targets to provide a detailed expression profile of lncRNAs on goat puberty.
长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）参与调控动物发育，然而，它们在山羊青春期启动中的作用仍 largely unexplored。为了鉴定控制山羊青春期调控的基因，我们测量了下丘脑的lncRNA和mRNA表达水平。
我们应用RNA测序分析来检查青春期山羊（病例组；n = 3）和青春期前山羊（对照组；n = 3）的下丘脑。我们的结果显示有2943个预测的lncRNA，其中包括2012个差异表达的lncRNA，它们对应于5412个靶基因。我们还研究了lncRNA对靶基因顺式和反式作用的作用，发现了许多参与青春期和生殖调控的lncRNA，以及与这些过程相关的几条途径。例如，如京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）或基因本体论（GO）分析所示，催产素信号通路、甾醇生物合成过程和信息素受体活性信号通路被富集。
我们的结果清楚地表明lncRNA在山羊青春期调控中起重要作用。然而，需要进一步研究来探索lncRNA及其预测靶标的功能，以提供lncRNA在山羊青春期的详细表达谱。
