Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (6): 2765-2777.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.06.021

• Animal Biotechnology and Reproduction • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Construction of Ovarian ceRNA Networks and Screening of Key miRNA in Two Different Breeds of Sheep Based on Whole Transcription Sequencing

GU Bo1(), WANG Anqi2, YU Xinmiao1, GUO Juntong1, YANG Yi1, DENG Yijie1, JIANG Huaizhi2,*()   

  1. 1. College of Life Science, Jilin Normal University, Siping 136000, China
    2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Jinlin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China
  • Received:2024-11-25 Online:2025-06-23 Published:2025-06-25
  • Contact: JIANG Huaizhi E-mail:494024036@qq.com;jianghz6806@126.com

Abstract:

This study aimed to analyze the molecular regulation mechanism of ncRNA (non-coding RNA) on the development process of sheep ovary, and screen the key genes for improving sheep fertility. In this study, 3 healthy adult ewes were selected from multiparous sheep (Small-tail Han sheep) and single-born sheep (Ujumuqin sheep) to construct ncRNA and mRNA expression profiles of ovarian tissue, the differentially expressed lncRNAs, circRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs were screened, and their target genes were predicted and GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were performed. Reproductive related pathways were screened out to further construct the ceRNA (lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA and circRNA-miRNA-mRNA) regulatory network, and finally the key miRNAs in the regulatory network were summarized. The results showed that a total of 1 579 lncRNAs, 561 circRNAs, 175 miRNAs and 3 095 mRNAs differentially expressed in the ovarian tissues of Ujumuqin sheep and small-tailed Han sheep were screened. The results of GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the target genes were significantly enriched in biological processes such as embryonic morphogenesis, meiosis activation, and mucin type O-glycan biosynthesis, glycosphingolipid biosynthesis, D-arginine and D-ornithine metabolism and other signaling pathways. The differentially expressed genes enriched in reproductive pathways were screened, and a ceRNA network(contained 87 lncRNAs, 27 circiRNAs, 3 miRNAs and 3 mRNAs)was constructed to obtain three key miRNAs(miR-140, miR-338 and miR-423-5p)and corresponding targeted regulatory ceRNA networks. Real-time fluorescence quantification (qRT-PCR) detection results of 9 differentially expressed lncRNAs, circRNAs, miRNAs, mRNAs, randomly selected were consistent with the trend of high-throughput sequencing results, indicating the reliability of sequencing data. This study analyzed the coordinated regulatory mechanism of DE ncRNAs and corresponding target genes, which provided an effective theoretical basis for elucidating the key genes and molecular mechanisms regulating the development of sheep ovary, and further fully understood the reproductive biological characteristics of sheep, which has important guiding significance for improving the reproductive efficiency.

Key words: Ujumuqin sheep, Small-tailed Han sheep, ovary, lncRNA, circRNA, miRNA, ceRNA network

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