Transcriptomic Analysis of circRNAs and mRNAs Reveals a Complex Regulatory Network That Participate in Follicular Development in Chickens

Frontiers in Genetics

Pengfeng Wu¹  Jinyu Wang¹  Genxi Zhang¹  Tingting Li¹  Lan Chen¹  Ying Wang¹  Kaizhou Xie¹  Fuxiang Chen¹  Manman Shen² 

[1] College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China;Jiangsu Institute of Poultry Science, Yangzhou, China;Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, College of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China;

关键词: follicle;    transcriptome;    circRNA;    WGCNA;    hub genes;    ESR1;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fgene.2020.00503

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Follicular development plays a key role in poultry reproduction, affecting clutch traits and thus egg production. Follicular growth is determined by granulosa cells (GCs), theca cells (TCs), and oocyte at the transcription, translation, and secretion levels. With the development of bioinformatic and experimental techniques, non-coding RNAs have been shown to participate in many life events. In this study, we investigated the transcriptomes of GCs and TCs in three different physiological stages: small yellow follicle (SYF), smallest hierarchical follicle (F6), and largest hierarchical follicle (F1) stages. A differential expression (DE) analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and bioinformatic analyses were performed. A total of 18,016 novel circular RNAs (circRNAs) were detected in GCs and TCs, 8127 of which were abundantly expressed in both cell types. and more circRNAs were differentially expressed between GCs and TCs than mRNAs. Enrichment analysis showed that the DE transcripts were mainly involved in cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In the WGCNA analysis, we identified six specific modules that were related to the different cell types in different stages of development. A series of central hub genes, including MAPK1, CITED4, SOD2, STC1, MOS, GDF9, MDH1, CAPN2, and novel_circ0004730, were incorporated into a Cytoscape network. Notably, using both DE analysis and WGCNA, ESR1 was identified as a key gene during follicular development. Our results provide valuable information on the circRNAs involved in follicle development and identify potential genes for further research to determine their roles in the regulation of different biological processes during follicle growth.

【 授权许可】

Unknown