Identification and Characterization of Sex-Biased MicroRNAs in Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel)

PLoS One. 2016 Jul 21;11(7):e0159591. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159591. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs that regulate various biological processes including sexual dimorphism. The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis is one of the most destructive agricultural insect pests in many Asian countries. However, no miRNAs have been identified from the separate sex and gonads to elucidate sex gonad differentiation in B. dorsalis. In this study, we constructed four small RNA libraries from whole body of females, males (except ovaries and testes) and ovaries, testes of B. dorsalis for deep sequencing. The data analysis revealed 183 known and 120 novel miRNAs from these libraries. 18 female-biased and 16 male-biased miRNAs that may be involved in sexual differentiation were found by comparing the miRNA expression profiles in the four libraries. Using a bioinformatic approach, we predicted doublesex (dsx) as a target gene of the female-biased miR-989-3p which is considered as the key switch gene in the sex determination of tephritid insects. This study reveals the first miRNA profile related to the sex differentiation and gives a first insight into sex differences in miRNA expression of B. dorsalis which could facilitate studies of the reproductive organ specific roles of miRNAs.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Conserved Sequence / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Library
  • Gene Ontology
  • Genome, Insect
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / chemistry
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • Nucleotides / genetics
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Sex Characteristics*
  • Tephritidae / genetics*

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • Nucleotides

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the earmarked fund for the China Agricultural Research System (No. CARS-27) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2014PY005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.