Shin Wonseok, Mun Seyoung, Kim Songmi, Yu Byung Sun, Srikulnath Kornsorn, Ahn Kung, Han Kyudong
NGS Clinical Laboratory, Division of Cancer Research, Dankook University Hospital, Cheonan, 31116, Republic of Korea.
Smart Animal Bio Institute, Dankook University, Cheonan, 31116, Republic of Korea.
Genes Genomics. 2025 Jun 9. doi: 10.1007/s13258-025-01650-x.
Dairy cattle are economically important animal resources contributing to human health and well-being by providing nutritious milk and other products. Non-coding RNAs are involved in biological processes, regulating gene expressions at the levels of messenger. However, the effects on miRNA expression and their function in dairy cattle are still unclear.
We aimed to understand better miRNA expressions associated with milk and reproduction quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and their locations in dairy cattle.
In this study, miRNA profiling was performed in blood samples collected from three non-pregnant cows using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The expression levels of miRNAs were estimated by miRDeep2 and QTLs associated with milk and reproduction were identified using cattleQTLdb. Functional enrichment analysis was performed to determine biological functions or pathways using DAVID.
In total, 406 known and 562 novel expressed miRNAs were identified in three dairy cattle using miRDeep2. A total of 27,652 and 31,064 QTLs associated with milk and reproduction traits were identified by QTL mapping for known and novel miRNAs, respectively. Of these, 1835 and 1020 miRNAs were related to milk and reproduction traits, respectively.
Our study provides a basis for further research to understand the miRNA expressions in dairy cattle and their role in milk and reproduction traits. We suggest that miRNAs may be helpful as biomarkers for improving milk and reproduction traits in dairy cattle through genetic selection.
奶牛是重要的经济动物资源，通过提供营养丰富的牛奶和其他产品，对人类健康和福祉做出贡献。非编码RNA参与生物过程，在信使水平调节基因表达。然而，其对奶牛miRNA表达及其功能的影响仍不清楚。
我们旨在更好地了解与奶牛产奶量和繁殖数量性状基因座（QTL）相关的miRNA表达及其位置。
在本研究中，使用Illumina HiSeq 2500平台对从三头未怀孕奶牛采集的血液样本进行miRNA谱分析。通过miRDeep2估计miRNA的表达水平，并使用cattleQTLdb鉴定与产奶量和繁殖相关的QTL。使用DAVID进行功能富集分析以确定生物学功能或途径。
使用miRDeep2在三头奶牛中共鉴定出406个已知的和562个新表达的miRNA。通过对已知和新miRNA的QTL定位，分别鉴定出与产奶量和繁殖性状相关的27652个和31064个QTL。其中，分别有1835个和1020个miRNA与产奶量和繁殖性状相关。
我们的研究为进一步了解奶牛中的miRNA表达及其在产奶量和繁殖性状中的作用提供了基础。我们建议，miRNA可能有助于作为生物标志物，通过基因选择改善奶牛的产奶量和繁殖性状。
