RNA-Seq Implies Divergent Regulation Patterns of LincRNA on Spermatogenesis and Testis Growth in Goats.

Dongdong Bo,Ruixue Hu,Yuqing Chong,Xunping Jiang,Guiqiong Liu

doi:10.3390/ani11030625

Abstract

Long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) regulate testicular development by acting on protein-coding genes. However, little is known about whether lincRNAs and protein-coding genes exhibit the same expression pattern in the same phase of postnatal testicular development in goats. Therefore, this study aimed to demonstrate the expression patterns and roles of lincRNAs during the postnatal development of the goat testis. Herein, the testes of Yiling goats with average ages of 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 days postnatal (DP) were used for RNA-seq. In total, 20,269 lincRNAs were identified, including 16,931 novel lincRNAs. We identified seven time-specifically diverse lincRNA modules and six mRNA modules by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Interestingly, the down-regulation of growth-related lincRNAs was nearly one month earlier than the up-regulation of spermatogenesis-related lincRNAs, while the down-regulation of growth-related protein-coding genes and the correspondent up-regulation of spermatogenesis-related protein-coding genes occurred at the same age. Then, potential lincRNA target genes were predicted. Moreover, the co-expression network of lincRNAs demonstrated that ENSCHIT00000000777, ENSCHIT00000002069, and ENSCHIT00000005076 were the key lincRNAs in the process of testis development. Our study discovered the divergent regulation patterns of lincRNA on spermatogenesis and testis growth, providing a fresh insight into age-biased changes in lincRNA expression in the goat testis.

Highlights

In the mammalian genome, only about 2% of DNA sequences are protein-coding genes, the rest are non-coding regions, including long non-coding RNAs [1]
Our previous study found that goat testes transit to the spermatogenesis phase at 120 days postnatal (DP) [22], and this study found that spermatogenesis-related lincRNAs were upregulated at 120 DP (Figure 4B)
The present study clearly suggested that some lincRNAs may play vital roles in promoting the transition of testicular development from organ growth to spermatogenesis in goats

Summary

Introduction

Only about 2% of DNA sequences are protein-coding genes, the rest are non-coding regions, including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) [1]. LncRNAs are defined as a series of long-chain RNAs without protein-coding potential [2,3]. Long-chain non-coding RNAs such as ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and nuclear RNAs are not included in lncRNAs [4,5]. The famous H19, as an imprinted maternally expressed lncRNA, is widely involved in the growth and reproduction processes [6,7]. Another well-documented lncRNA, Xist (X inactive-specific transcript), regulates the dose compensation effect and X chromosome inactivation [8]. With the extensive implementation of lncRNA research in the past two decades, lncRNAs have been found to function in embryonic development [9], muscle growth [10], immunity [11], metabolism [12], and gametogenesis [13]

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