Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
Sichuan Key Laboratory for Medicinal American Cockroach, Chengdu 610000, People's Republic of China.
Gene. 2020 Jun 15;743:144610. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2020.144610. Epub 2020 Mar 20.
The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), which is one of the most ancient insects in the world, is characterized by incomplete metamorphosis. So far, no one has studied the microRNA profile of P. americana and the changes in the expression of microRNAs on different developmental stages. In this study, we sequenced the small RNAs (sRNA) of four samples at four post-embryonic developmental stages. A total of 35 conserved known mature miRNAs and 134 novel mature miRNAs were identified. After differential expression analysis, we noticed there were more miRNA expressed differentially during early post-embryonic stages. We also found about one-third of known miRNAs were significantly dynamic. After a cross-species comparative analysis, we identified two miRNAs (miR-1000 and miR-932) that may be important for morphogenesis, olfactory, learning, and memory. In addition, unlike hetero-metabolous insects, miRNAs still played an important role in late post-embryonic stages in holo-metabolous insects. In conclusion, our results underline the significance of miRNA expression in post-embryonic developmental stages of the American cockroach and push forward the understanding of gene expression modulation by miRNAs in cockroach. This would also contribute to the study of gene expression regulation by miRNAs during metamorphosis development.
美洲大蠊（Periplaneta americana）是世界上最古老的昆虫之一，其特征为不完全变态。迄今为止，尚未有人研究过 P. americana 的 microRNA 图谱以及 microRNAs 在不同发育阶段的表达变化。在本研究中，我们对四个胚胎后发育阶段的四个样本进行了小 RNA（sRNA）测序。共鉴定出 35 个保守的已知成熟 microRNA 和 134 个新的成熟 microRNA。经过差异表达分析，我们注意到早期胚胎后阶段表达差异的 microRNA 更多。我们还发现约三分之一的已知 microRNA 明显具有动态性。经过跨物种比较分析，我们鉴定出两种可能对形态发生、嗅觉、学习和记忆很重要的 microRNA（miR-1000 和 miR-932）。此外，与异态昆虫不同，miRNA 在全态昆虫的胚胎后晚期阶段仍然发挥重要作用。总之，我们的研究结果强调了 microRNA 表达在美洲大蠊胚胎后发育阶段的重要性，并推进了对 microRNA 调控昆虫基因表达的理解。这也有助于研究变态发育过程中 microRNA 对基因表达调控的作用。
