Deep Illumina sequencing reveals conserved and novel microRNAs in grass carp in response to grass carp reovirus infection

BMC Genomics

Research Article

Rong Huang¹  Yaping Wang¹  Aidi Zhang¹  Zuoyan Zhu¹  Libo He¹  Lanjie Liao¹  Yongming Li¹  Pengfei Chu² 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China;State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China;

关键词: Grass carp;    Grass carp reovirus;    microRNA;    Hemorrhagic symptoms;    Blood coagulation;    Complement and coagulation cascades;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12864-017-3562-4

 received in 2016-11-23, accepted in 2017-02-07,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe grass carp hemorrhagic disease caused by the grass carp reovirus (GCRV) is a major disease that hampers the development of grass carp aquaculture. The mechanism underlying GCRV pathogenesis and hemorrhagic symptoms is still unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators involved in various biological processes. The aim of this study was to identify conserved and novel miRNAs in grass carp in response to GCRV infection, as well as attempt to reveal the mechanism underlying GCRV pathogenesis and hemorrhagic symptoms.ResultsGrass carp were infected with GCRV, and spleen samples were collected at 0 (control), 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 days post-infection (dpi). These samples were used to construct and sequence small RNA libraries. A total of 1208 miRNAs were identified, of which 278 were known miRNAs and 930 were novel miRNAs. Thirty-six miRNAs were identified to exhibit differential expression when compared with the control, and 536 target genes were predicted for the 36 miRNAs. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses of these target genes showed that many of the significantly enriched terms were associated with immune response, blood coagulation, hemostasis, and complement and coagulation cascades, especially the GO term “blood coagulation” and pathway “complement and coagulation cascades.” Ten representative target genes involved in “complement and coagulation cascades” were selected for qPCR analysis, and the results showed that the expression patterns of these target genes were significantly upregulated at 7 dpi, suggesting that the pathway “complement and coagulation cascades” was strongly activated.ConclusionConserved and novel miRNAs in response to GCRV infection were identified in grass carp, of which 278 were known miRNAs and 930 were novel miRNAs. Many of the target genes involved in immune response, blood coagulation, hemostasis, and complement and coagulation cascades. Strong activation of the pathway “complement and coagulation cascades” may have led to endothelial-cell and blood-cell damage and hemorrhagic symptoms. The present study provides a new insight into understanding the mechanism underlying GCRV pathogenesis and hemorrhagic symptoms.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017