College of Animal Science and Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China.
Aohan Fine Wool Sheep Stud Farm, Chifeng, 024000, China.
BMC Genomics. 2020 Feb 28;21(1):187. doi: 10.1186/s12864-020-6599-8.
Aohan fine wool sheep (AFWS) is a historically bred fine wool sheep, cultivated in China. The wool has excellent quality and good textile performance. Investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate wool growth is important to improve wool quality and yield. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are widely expressed non-coding RNAs that can act as competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to bind to miRNAs. Although circRNAs have been studied in many fields, research on their activity in sheep wool follicles is limited. To understand the regulation of circRNAs in the growth of fine wool in sheep, we used RNA-Seq to identify circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin samples at three developmental stages: embryonic day 90 (E90d), embryonic day 120 (E120d), and at birth (Birth).
We identified 8753 circRNAs and found that 918 were differentially-expressed. We then analyzed the classification and characteristic of the circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin. Using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), we identified the source genes of circRNAs, which were mainly enriched in cellular component organization, regulation of primary metabolic processes, tight junctions, and the cGMP-PKG and AMPK signaling pathways. In addition, we predicted interactions between 17 circRNAs and eight miRNAs, using miRanda software. Based on the significant pathways, we speculate that circ_0005720, circ_0001754, circ_0008036, circ_0004032, circ_0005174, circ_0005519, and circ_0007826 might play an important role in regulating wool follicle growth in AFWS. Seven circRNAs were randomly selected to validate the RNA-Seq results, using qRT-PCR.
Our results provide more information about circRNAs regulation of wool follicle development in AFWS, and establish a solid foundation for future research.
敖汉细毛羊（AFWS）是中国历史悠久的细毛羊品种，其羊毛具有优良的品质和良好的纺织性能。研究调控羊毛生长的分子机制对于提高羊毛的产量和质量非常重要。环状 RNA（circRNAs）是广泛表达的非编码 RNA，可以作为竞争性内源性 RNA（ceRNAs）与 miRNA 结合。尽管 circRNAs 在许多领域都有研究，但对其在绵羊毛囊生长中的活性的研究有限。为了了解 circRNAs 在绵羊细毛生长中的调控作用，我们使用 RNA-Seq 技术鉴定了绵羊肩部皮肤在三个发育阶段（胚胎 90 天（E90d）、胚胎 120 天（E120d）和出生时（出生））的样本中的 circRNAs。
我们鉴定了 8753 个 circRNAs，发现其中 918 个差异表达。然后，我们分析了绵羊肩部皮肤中 circRNAs 的分类和特征。使用基因本体论（GO）和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG），我们鉴定了 circRNAs 的来源基因，这些基因主要富集在细胞成分组织、初级代谢过程的调节、紧密连接以及 cGMP-PKG 和 AMPK 信号通路中。此外，我们使用 miRanda 软件预测了 17 个 circRNAs 和 8 个 miRNAs 之间的相互作用。基于显著的途径，我们推测 circ_0005720、circ_0001754、circ_0008036、circ_0004032、circ_0005174、circ_0005519 和 circ_0007826 可能在调控 AFWS 羊毛毛囊生长中发挥重要作用。随机选择了 7 个 circRNAs 进行 qRT-PCR 验证 RNA-Seq 结果。
我们的研究结果为 AFWS 中 circRNAs 调控羊毛毛囊发育提供了更多信息，为今后的研究奠定了基础。
