Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (6): 2685-2700.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.06.014

• Animal Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Integrated Sequencing Analysis of lncRNA and mRNA Related to Ancestral-like Coarse in Aohan Fine Wool Sheep

LUO Ruijie1(), WANG Jiankui2, CAO Suying1,*()   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 100096, China
    2. College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2024-11-18 Online:2025-06-23 Published:2025-06-25
  • Contact: CAO Suying E-mail:2587714111@qq.com;20137602@bua.edu.cn

Abstract:

This study started with long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and aimed to explore the transcriptome characteristics of ancestral-like coarse (ALC) individuals in the Aohan fine wool sheep population. Skin samples were collected from 3 ALC lambs and 3 non ancestral modern fine (MF) wool lambs, all 30 days old. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to identify mRNA and lncRNA potentially associated with the "ALC" phenomenon in fine wool sheep. Through bioinformatics analysis, we explored the role of lncRNA in the development of fine wool follicles and conducted joint analysis of lncRNA and mRNA. The total of 1 540 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DE-lncRNAs) and 513 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, which were enriched in multiple signaling pathways related to hair follicle development, such as WNT, PPAR, MAPK, and all showed significant downregulation. DE-lncRNAs with significant differences (P < 0.05) was analyzed, including lncRNAs closely related to early development of primary hair follicles, such as GTL2. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis was performed on DE-lncRNA target genes and DEGs. DE-lncRNA target genes and DEGs were enriched in multiple signaling pathways related to hair follicle development, such as WNT, PPAR, MAPK, as well as biological processes related to TGF-β negative regulation. In addition, DE-lncRNA and DEGs enrichment analysis showed that ALC lambs had multiple upregulated pathways for substance and energy metabolism. The correlation analysis between DEGs and DE-lncRNA identified 90 genes that might be regulated by DE-lncRNA, including ADIPOQ, BRCA1, CCAR2, KIF20B, SOAT1, which are involved in processes related to cell proliferation, cell fate determination, cell cycle regulation, substance binding, catalytic activity, etc. The results showed that ALC lambs had significant differences in hair follicle-associated lncRNAs compared to MF lambs, indicating that the primary hair follicles of ALC lambs might be in the initial stage of comprehensive degeneration. The MAPK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways were potentially important for the phenomenon of juvenile atavism in ALC sheep. The metabolism of ALC lamb was more vigorous than that of MF lamb. GTL2 and other DE-lncRNAs might be associated with stronger adaptability in ALC sheep. This study aims to explore lncRNAs related to ALC traits in fine wool sheep, providing reference clues for further research on the development mechanism of fine wool sacs and having important reference value for stress resistant breeding of fine wool sheep.

Key words: Aohan fine wool sheep, ancestral-like coarse, lncRNA, mRNA, bioinformatics

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