Abstract
Shandong black cattle is a new breed of cattle that is developed by applying modern biotechnology, such as somatic cloning, and conventional breeding methods to Luxi cattle. It is very important to study the function and regulatory mechanism of circRNAs in muscle differentiation among different breeds to improve meat quality and meat production performance and to provide new ideas for beef cattle meat quality improvements and new breed development. Therefore, the goal of this study was to sequence and identify circRNAs in muscle tissues of different breeds of cattle. We used RNA-seq to identify circRNAs in the muscles of two breeds of cattle (Shandong black and Luxi). We identified 14,640 circRNAs and found 655 differentially expressed circRNAs. We also analyzed the classification and characteristics of circRNAs in muscle tissue. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses were used on the parental genes of circRNAs. They were mainly involved in a variety of biological processes, such as muscle fiber development, smooth muscle cell proliferation, bone system morphogenesis, tight junctions and the MAPK, AMPK, and mTOR signaling pathways. In addition, we used miRanda to predict the interactions between 14 circRNAs and 11 miRNAs. Based on the above assays, we identified circRNAs (circ0001048, circ0001103, circ0001159, circ0003719, circ0003424, circ0003721, circ0003720, circ0001519, circ0001530, circ0005011, circ0014518, circ0000181, circ0000190, circ0010558) that may play important roles in the regulation of muscle growth and development. Using real-time quantitative PCR, 14 circRNAs were randomly selected to verify the real circRNAs. Luciferase reporter gene system was used to verify the binding site of miR-1 in circ0014518. Our results provide more information about circRNAs regulating muscle development in different breeds of cattle and lay a solid foundation for future experiments.
Highlights
CircRNA is a unique kind of non-coding RNA that has no 5 terminal cap or 3 terminal poly (a) tail and presents a closed ring structure (Rong et al, 2017)
Through high-throughput sequencing technology combined with functional verification tests, we revealed the function and regulatory mechanism of circRNA in muscle development and combined these findings with the characteristics of different breeds to cultivate fast-growing and high meat production rate beef cattle varieties to increase the speed of beef cattle breeding and provide a theoretical basis for the development of China’s beef industry
The muscle fibers of the longissimus dorsi in the back of Shandong black cattle and Luxi cattle were significantly different in the apparent observation of paraffin sections stained by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) (Figure 1)
Summary
CircRNA is a unique kind of non-coding RNA that has no 5 terminal cap or 3 terminal poly (a) tail and presents a closed ring structure (Rong et al, 2017). Subsequent studies found that circRNA was expressed in the skeletal muscle of pigs, cattle and other animals, and its expression was spatiotemporal and interspecific. Li found that the circRNAs circFUT1O and circFGFR4 could regulate the proliferation and differentiation of bovine skeletal muscle cells by absorbing miR-133a and miR-107, respectively (Li et al, 2017, 2018). Wei found that circLMO7 can regulate the differentiation and apoptosis of bovine skeletal muscle cells by absorbing miR-378a-3p (Wei et al, 2017). CircRNAs play an important role in the development of bovine muscle. There are almost no reports about the regulation by circRNAs of the development of bovine skeletal muscle. This study is mainly about identification and characterization of circRNA in different breeds of cattle, which has certain theoretical significance for breeding
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
