Duan Saixing, Li Falei, Meng Libing, Cheng Shimei, Shi Huangqi, Qu Yingjie, He Chaoyue, Gao Shengyu, Li Jian, Sun Shiduo, Liu Yong, Xu Gaoxiao
Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Embryo Development and Reproductive Regulation, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Environmental Hormone and Reproduction, School of Biological and Food Engineering, Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang, China.
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for Agriculture, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Front Genet. 2025 Apr 16;16:1498076. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1498076. eCollection 2025.
The number of litters is an important reproductive trait, which is one of the main indicators reflecting the production level and economic benefit of the pig farm. As an important reproductive organ of female mammals, the ovary is controlled by a complex transcription network of coding and non-coding genes to undergo a series of biological processes during each estrus cycle, thereby regulating the reproductive capacity of the sow. However, these molecular regulation mechanisms affecting sow litter size are still unclear.
Regarding the non-coding molecular regulatory mechanisms in ovarian function with smaller and larger litter size (SLS and LLS), we investigated the expression profile of lncRNA in pig SLS and LLS samples. Total RNAs from porcine ovaries were used to construct libraries using Ribo-Zero RNA sequencing method.
Here we profiled the expression of lncRNA in porcine ovaries with SLS and LLS, and identified a total of 3,556 lncRNA candidates, of which 96 were upregulated lncRNA and 206 were downregulated lncRNA when comparing LLS to SLS. In addition, a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed, and it was found that lncRNAs LOC100513133 and LOC102168075 may serve as ceRNAs containing potential binding sites for miR-26b, let-7g and miR-125b.
These results demonstrate that lncRNAs may play roles in modulating porcine litter size.
窝产仔数是一项重要的繁殖性状，是反映猪场生产水平和经济效益的主要指标之一。卵巢作为雌性哺乳动物的重要生殖器官，受编码基因和非编码基因组成的复杂转录网络调控，在每个发情周期中经历一系列生物学过程，从而调节母猪的繁殖能力。然而，这些影响母猪窝产仔数的分子调控机制仍不清楚。
针对产仔数少和产仔数多（SLS和LLS）的母猪卵巢功能中的非编码分子调控机制，我们研究了猪SLS和LLS样本中lncRNA的表达谱。使用Ribo-Zero RNA测序方法，以猪卵巢的总RNA构建文库。
在此，我们分析了SLS和LLS猪卵巢中lncRNA的表达情况，共鉴定出3556个lncRNA候选物，其中与SLS相比，LLS中有96个lncRNA上调，206个lncRNA下调。此外，构建了一个竞争性内源RNA（ceRNA）网络，发现lncRNAs LOC100513133和LOC102168075可能作为ceRNAs，含有miR-26b、let-7g和miR-125b的潜在结合位点。
这些结果表明lncRNAs可能在调节猪的窝产仔数中发挥作用。
