Identification of sex differentiation-related microRNA and long non-coding RNA in Takifugu rubripes gonads

Abstract

Although sex determination and differentiation are key developmental processes in animals, the involvement of non-coding RNA in the regulation of this process is still not clarified. The tiger pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes) is one of the most economically important marine cultured species in Asia, but analyses of miRNA and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) at early sex differentiation stages have not been conducted yet. In our study, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to sequence transcriptome libraries from undifferentiated gonads of T. rubripes. In total, 231 (107 conserved, and 124 novel) miRNAs were obtained, while 2774 (523 conserved, and 2251 novel) lncRNAs were identified. Of these, several miRNAs and lncRNAs were predicted to be the regulators of the expression of sex-related genes (including fru-miR-15b/foxl2, novel-167, novel-318, and novel-538/dmrt1, novel-548/amh, lnc_000338, lnc_000690, lnc_000370, XLOC_021951, and XR_965485.1/gsdf). Analysis of differentially expressed miRNAs and lncRNAs showed that three mature miRNAs up-regulated and five mature miRNAs were down-regulated in male gonads compared to female gonads, while 79 lncRNAs were up-regulated and 51 were down-regulated. These findings could highlight a group of interesting miRNAs and lncRNAs for future studies and may reveal new insights into the function of miRNAs and lncRNAs in sex determination and differentiation.

The potential regulatory role of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA axis in teleost fish

“…In addition, the regulatory role of lncRNAs mediated by miRNAs may also be involved in other biological processes, but the composition and molecular mechanism of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA axis need to be confirmed. For example, the differential expression of miRNAs and lncRNAs was also found in tiger pufferfish ( Takifugu rubripes , T. rubripes ) of different sexes ( 109 ). Compared with female gonads, 79 lncRNAs were upregulated and 51 were downregulated in male gonads, while 3 mature miRNAs were upregulated and 3 mature miRNAs were downregulated.…”

“…Compared with female gonads, 79 lncRNAs were upregulated and 51 were downregulated in male gonads, while 3 mature miRNAs were upregulated and 3 mature miRNAs were downregulated. Moreover, several lncRNAs and miRNAs were also predicted to regulate the expression of sex-related genes in T. rubripes gonads, such as lnc_000338, lnc_000690, lnc_000370, fru-miR-15b, novel-167, and novel-318 ( 109 ). In the central nervous system (CNS) of the weakly electric brown ghost knifefish ( Apteronotus leptorhynchus , A. leptorhynchus ), a broad variety of ncRNAs were identified, including lncRNAs, miRNAs, snRNAs, snoRNAs, and other ncRNA sequences ( 110 ).…”

Sexual antagonism and sex determination in three syngnathid species alongside a male pregnancy gradient

“…Epigenetic mechanisms are also responsible for governing gene-hormonal-environmental interactions. There is a considerable amount of data from teleost fish showing that miRNAs and lncRNAs are involved in sex determination processes and gonadal differentiation (Bizuayehu et al 2012; Juanchich et al 2013; Jing et al 2014; Lau et al 2014; Xiao et al 2014; Juanchich et al 2016; Tao et al 2016; Wang et al 2017; Pinhal et al 2018; Qiu et al 2018; Yan et al 2021). Studies have also brought up the potential roles of ncRNAs in the regulation of immune responses in teleost fish (Wang et al 2018).…”

The integrated comprehension of lncRNA HOXA-AS3 implication on human diseases

“…Numerous studies have found that lncRNAs primarily work by interacting with miRNAs and interfering with gene expression [40][41][42][43][44]. Functional analysis indicated that HOXA-AS3 participated in regulating various cell biological processes via numerous mechanisms, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, chemotherapy sensitivity, endothelium inflammation, and MSCslineage differentiation.…”