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Analysis of pituitary transcriptomics indicates that lncRNAs are involved in the regulation of sheep estrus

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Abstract

Seasonal estrus is a key factor limiting animal fertility, and understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate animal estrus is important for improving animal fertility. The pituitary gland, which is the most important endocrine gland in mammals, plays an important role in regulating the physiological processes such as growth, development, and reproduction of animals. Here, we used RNA-seq technology to study the expression profile of lncRNAs in the anterior pituitary of sheep during estrus and anestrus. In this study, we identified a total of 995 lncRNAs, of which 335 lncRNAs were differentially expressed in two states (including 38 up-regulated and 297 down-regulated lncRNAs). RT-qPCR verified the expression levels of several lncRNAs. Target predictive analysis revealed that these lncRNAs can act in cis or trans and regulate the expression of genes involved in the regulation of sheep estrus. Target gene enrichment analysis of differentially expressed lncRNAs indicates that these lncRNAs can regulate sheep estrus by regulating hormone metabolism and energy metabolism. Through our research, we provide the expression profile of lncRNAs in the pituitary of sheep, which provides a valuable resource for further understanding of the genetic regulation of seasonal estrus in sheep from the perspective of lncRNAs.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database under accession number PRJNA548034 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra).

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to all contributors to this work. XYL, CYL, YRX, WN, and SWH conceived and designed the experiment, analyzed and interpreted the data. XYL, CYL, YRX, WN, and SWH wrote the manuscript. XYL, CYL, YRX, RY, HXL, RZQ, MDZ, LL, STY, YU, RRH, YXL, XKW, and TG collected samples. XYL, CYL, and YRX participated in RNA extraction and subsequent analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [31660644, 31660718 and U1803111], Young innovative talents [2016 BC001, 2017CB003, CXRC201603 and CXRC201806], Bingtuan Science and Technology Cooperation Program [2018 BC011]. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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  1. Xiaoyue Li, Cunyuan Li and Yueren Xu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China

    Xiaoyue Li, Cunyuan Li, Yueren Xu, Rui Yao, Huixiang Li, Wei Ni, Renzhe Quan, Mengdan Zhang, Li Liu, Shuting Yu, Yaseen Ullah, Ruirui Hu, Yaxin Li, Tao Guo, Xiaokui Wang & Shengwei Hu

  2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China

    Cunyuan Li

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  1. Xiaoyue Li
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Correspondence to Wei Ni or Shengwei Hu.

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All experimental procedures involving animals in this project were approved by the Animal Health Committee of Shihezi University, and all animal experiments were completed under the supervision of the committee (SU-ACUC-08032). The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards set out in the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and its subsequent amendments.

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Li, X., Li, C., Xu, Y. et al. Analysis of pituitary transcriptomics indicates that lncRNAs are involved in the regulation of sheep estrus. Funct Integr Genomics 20, 563–573 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-020-00735-y

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