Identification and characterization of microRNAs in the pituitary of pubescent goats

Jing Ye,Jie Zhou,Jianping Ding,Wenyu Si,Chen Yang,Fugui Fang,Xiaoxiao Gao,Ya Liu,Weiping Huang,Zhiqiu Yao

doi:10.1186/s12958-018-0370-x

Jing Ye, Jie Zhou + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12958-018-0370-x

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Abstract

BackgroundPuberty is the period during a female mammal’s life when it enters estrus and ovulates for the first time; this indicates that a mammal is capable of reproduction. The onset of puberty is a complex and tightly coordinated biological event; it has been reported that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in regulating the initiation of puberty.MethodsWe performed miRNA sequencing on pituitary tissue from prepubescent and pubescent goats to investigate differences in miRNA expression during the onset of puberty in female goats. The target genes of these miRNAs were evaluated by GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis to identify critical pathways regulated by these miRNAs during puberty in goats. Finally, we selected four known miRNA and one novel miRNAs to evaluate expression patterns in two samples via qRT-PCR to validate the RNA-seq data.ResultsIn this study, 476 miRNAs were detected in goat pituitary tissue; 13 of these were specifically expressed in the pituitary of prepubescent goats, and 17 were unique to the pituitary of pubescent goats. Additionally, 73 novel miRNAs were predicted in these two libraries. 20 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in this study. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the differentially expressed miRNA target genes were enriched in pathways related to ovary development during puberty, including the GABAergic synapse, oxytocin signaling pathway, the cAMP signaling pathway, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation. In this study, differential miRNA expression in the pituitary tissue of prepubescent and pubescent goats were identified and characterized.ConclusionThese results provide important information regarding the potential regulation of the onset of goat puberty by miRNAs, and contribute to the elucidation of miRNA regulated processes during maturation and reproduction.

Highlights

Puberty is the period during a female mammal’s life when it enters estrus and ovulates for the first time; this indicates that a mammal is capable of reproduction
Overview of RNA sequencing data In order to identify miRNAs that are differentially expressed the pituitary of pubescent and prepubescent goats, two small RNA (sRNA) libraries were constructed by Solexa sequencing
A total of 11,793,577 reads and 10,676,789 reads were acquired from the pituitary libraries of pubescent and prepubescent goats, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Puberty is the period during a female mammal’s life when it enters estrus and ovulates for the first time; this indicates that a mammal is capable of reproduction. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that play a key roles in regulating gene expression during transcription and post-transcriptionally regulating protein expression [1]. Recent studies have shown that miRNAs play a direct role in apoptosis of bovine luteal regulation [11], suggesting that miRNAs are involved in reproductive regulation. Studies have found that miR-26b plays an important role in pituitary development [13]. Corrected P-value 0.951 0.951 0.951 0.951 0.951 0.951 the qRT-PCR validation of differential miRNA expression from pituitary tissue of individual animals that we report here indicates results of the Solexa sequencing are reliable. SRNAs in the pituitary tissues of prepubescent and pubescent goats were sequenced by Illumina Solexa technology. The localization of miRNAs may be associated with miRNA function, and studies of miRNA localization can provide a rich blueprint for the

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