Comparative Transcriptome Profiling of mRNA and lncRNA Related to Tail Adipose Tissues of Sheep

Abstract

The Lanzhou Fat-Tail sheep (LFTS, long fat-tailed sheep) is an endangered sheep breed in China with a fat tail compared to the traditional local varieties, Small Tail Han sheep (STHS, thin-tailed sheep) with a small tail, and Tibetan sheep (TS, short thin-tailed sheep) with a little tail. However, little is known regarding how tail fat deposition is regulated by long noncoding RNA (lncRNA). To evaluate the lncRNA and mRNA associated with tail fat deposition and development among these breeds, high-throughput RNA sequencing of three individuals each of LFTS, STHS, and TS were performed and analyzed in this study. RNA sequencing data from these three groups revealed 10 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 37 differentially expressed lncRNAs between the LFTS and STHS groups, 390 DEGs and 59 differentially expressed lncRNAs between the LFTS and TS groups, and 80 DEGs and 16 differentially expressed lncRNAs between the STHS and TS groups (p-value < 0.05 and fold change ≥ 2), respectively. Gene Ontology and pathway analysis of DEGs and target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs revealed enrichment in fatty acid metabolism and fatty acid elongation-related pathways that contribute to fat deposition. Subsequently, the expression of 14 DEGs and 6 differentially expressed lncRNAs was validated by quantitative real-time PCR. Finally, two co-expression networks of differentially expressed mRNA and lncRNAs were constructed. The results suggested that some differentially expressed lncRNAs (TCONS_00372767, TCONS_00171926, TCONS_00054953, and TCONS_00373007) may play crucial roles as core lncRNAs in tail fat deposition processes. In summary, the present study extends the sheep tail fat lncRNA database and these differentially expressed mRNA and lncRNAs may provide novel candidate regulators for future genetic and molecular studies on tail fat deposition of sheep.

Comparative tail fat transcriptome analysis of key genes and pathways activated in response to fat deposition in two sheep breeds with extreme fat-tail phenotype differences

“…Li and co-workers reported 5,395 DEGs between tail fat tissues of Guangling large-tailed and small-tailed Han sheep [27]. In addition, 646 DEGs between Kazak and Tibetan sheep were reported by Wang et al [26], 390 DEGs between Lanzhou Fat-Tailed and Tibetan sheep by Ma et al [29] and 602 DEGs between Small-Tailed Han and Dorset sheep by Miao et al [28]. The numbers of total genes and DEGs identi ed in the current study were signi cantly higher than previously reported gures, which may be attributable to the higher suitability of our animal models.…”

“…RNA-Seq analysis by Ma and colleagues to investigate the tail fat transcriptome of Lanzhou Fat-Tailed (long fat-tailed), Small-Tailed Han (short fat-tailed), and Tibetan (short thin-tailed) sheep identi ed several differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). GO and pathway analysis of DEGs and target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs revealed that the majority were enriched in fatty acid metabolism and fatty acid elongation-related pathways that contribute to fat deposition [29]. Previous studies clearly indicate that the tail fat deposition ability of sheep with different tail types is a complex quantitative trait regulated by multiple genes.…”

Genome-Wide Analysis and Function Prediction of Long Noncoding RNAs in Sheep Pituitary Gland Associated with Sexual Maturation

“…Lots of studies have been explored in the research on lncRNA in male reproduction, female reproduction and growth development of sheep, including testis [27], ovary [28], uterus [29], skeletal muscle [28] and adipose tissues [30]. For the functional research of pituitary in sheep reproduction, there were 235 DE lncRNAs have been identified in embryonic and adult female sheep pituitary.…”

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT SYMPOSIUM: STEM AND PROGENITOR CELLS IN ANIMAL GROWTH: Long noncoding RNAs in adipogenesis and adipose development of meat animals12

“…Recently, Ma et al (2018) have reported transcriptome profiling of mRNA and lncRNA related to tail adipose tissues in Lanzhou Fat-Tail sheep (long fat-tail), Small Tail Han sheep (thin-tail), and Tibetan sheep (short thin-tail; Ma et al, 2018). Differentially expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs were enriched in fatty acid metabolism and fatty acid elongation-related pathways that contribute to fat deposition.…”