College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, No. 22 Xinong Road, Shaanxi, 712100, China.
Biology Research Centre of Qin Mountains Wildlife, Northwest A&F University, No. 22 Xinong Road, Shaanxi, 712100, China.
Fish Physiol Biochem. 2022 Jun;48(3):481-499. doi: 10.1007/s10695-022-01078-0. Epub 2022 May 20.
The late overwintering period and breeding period are two important developmental stages of testis in Onychostoma macrolepis. Small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) are well-known regulators of biological processes associated with numerous biological processes. This study aimed to elucidate the roles of four sncRNA classes (microRNAs [miRNAs], Piwi-interacting RNAs [piRNAs], tRNA-derived small RNAs [tsRNAs], and rRNA-derived small RNAs [rsRNAs]) across testes in the late overwintering period (in March) and breeding period (in June) by high-throughput sequencing. The testis of O. macrolepis displayed the highest levels of piRNAs and lowest levels of rsRNAs. Compared with miRNAs and tsRNAs in June, tsRNAs in March had a higher abundance, while miRNAs in March had a much lower abundance. Bioinformatics analysis identified 1,362 and 1,340 differentially expressed miRNAs and tsRNAs, respectively. Further analysis showed that miR-200-1, miR-143-1, tRFi-Lys-CTT-1, and tRFi-Glu-CTC-1 could play critical roles during the overwintering and breeding periods. Our findings provided an unprecedented insight to reveal the epigenetic mechanism underlying the overwintering and reproduction process of male O. macrolepis.
晚越冬期和繁殖期是长吻鮠睾丸发育的两个重要阶段。小非编码 RNA（sncRNA）是与许多生物学过程相关的生物过程的重要调节因子。本研究旨在通过高通量测序阐明 4 种 sncRNA 类（miRNA、Piwi 相互作用 RNA、tRNA 衍生的小 RNA 和 rRNA 衍生的小 RNA）在长吻鮠晚越冬期（3 月）和繁殖期（6 月）睾丸中的作用。长吻鮠睾丸中 piRNA 的丰度最高，rsRNA 的丰度最低。与 6 月的 miRNA 和 tsRNA 相比，3 月的 tsRNA 丰度更高，而 3 月的 miRNA 丰度则低得多。生物信息学分析分别鉴定出 1362 个和 1340 个差异表达的 miRNA 和 tsRNA。进一步分析表明，miR-200-1、miR-143-1、tRFi-Lys-CTT-1 和 tRFi-Glu-CTC-1 在越冬和繁殖期可能发挥关键作用。我们的研究结果提供了一个前所未有的见解，揭示了雄性长吻鮠越冬和繁殖过程中的表观遗传机制。
