No abstract

ABSTRACT. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an important class of small noncoding RNAs that are highly conserved in plants and animals. Many miRNAs are known to mediate a myriad of cell processes, including proliferation and differentiation, via the regulation of some transcription and signaling factors, which are closely related to muscle development and disease. In this study, small RNA cDNA libraries of Boer goats were constructed. In addition, we obtained the goat muscle miRNAs by using Solexa deep-sequencing technology and analyzed these miRNA characteristics by combining it with the bioinformatics technology. Based on Solexa sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, 562 speciesconserved and 5 goat genome-specific miRNAs were identified, 322 of which exceeded 100 in the expression levels. The results of realtime quantitative polymerase chain reaction from 8 randomly selected miRNAs showed that the 8 miRNAs were expressed in goat muscle, and the expression patterns were consistent with the Solexa sequencing results. The identification and characterization of miRNAs in goat muscle provide important information on the role of miRNA regulation in muscle growth and development. These data will help to facilitate studies on the regulatory roles played by miRNAs during goat growth and development.

Illumina high-throughput sequencing is a representative tool for understanding the diversity of eukaryotic community. We compared the parasites diversity of 24 fecal samples from the wintering black-necked cranes in Caohai wetland using the Illumina sequencing of 18S rDNA V4 and V9 regions. Globally, 237 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 197 OTUs were detected using the V4 and V9 primer sets, respectively. Taxonomic analyses of these OTUs revealed that the number of phyla, families, genera and species in V4 datasets were higher than V9 datasets and at the level of class and order was lower than V9 datasets. The alpha diversity index for V4 were all higher than V9, which also illustrates that datas from the V4 region are more rich. However, the V9 datasets detected Echinostoma caproni which was a common parasite in birds while the V4 datasets were failed, so we strongly recommend both V4 and V9 regions be used to assess the diversity within the parasites in fecal samples. After in-depth discussion on the species level and phylogenetic analysis of parasites, we finally confirmed that the black-necked cranes were infected with E. reichenowi, E. gruis, C. struthionis and E. caproni. Among them, E. caproni was a zoonotic parasite, C. struthionis had unknown pathogenicity, and E. reichenowi and E. gruis had the greatest threat to the health of black-necked cranes. These four parasites should be given great attention and sustained attention in the follow-up study. The results enriched the application of high-throughput sequencing technology in bird parasite detection.