Integrated mRNA and microRNA transcriptome analyses reveal regulation of thermal acclimation in Gymnocypris przewalskii: A case study in Tibetan Schizothoracine fish

PLoS One. 2017 Oct 18;12(10):e0186433. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186433. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Environmental acclimation is important episode in wildlife occupation of the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau (TP). Transcriptome-wide studies on thermal acclimation mechanism in fish species are rarely revealed in Tibetan Plateau fish at high altitude. Thus, we used mRNA and miRNA transcriptome sequencing to investigate regulation of thermal acclimation in larval Tibetan naked carp, Gymnocypris przewalskii. We first remodeled the regulation network of mRNA and miRNA in thermal acclimation, and then identified differential expression of miRNAs and target mRNAs enriched in metabolic and digestive pathways. Interestingly, we identified two candidate genes contributed to normal skeletal development. The altered expression of these gene groups could potentially be associated with the developmental issues of deformity and induced larval death. Our results have three important implications: first, these findings provide strong evidences to support our hypothesis that G. przewalskii possess ability to build heat-tolerance against the controversial issue. Second, this study shows that transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulations are extensively involved in thermal acclimation. Third, the integrated mRNA and microRNA transcriptome analyses provide a large number of valuable genetic resources for future studies on environmental stress response in G. przewalskii and as a case study in Tibetan Schizothoracine fish.

MeSH terms

  • Acclimatization / genetics*
  • Animals
  • Bone Development / genetics
  • Carps / genetics*
  • Carps / physiology*
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Heat-Shock Response / genetics
  • Larva / genetics
  • Larva / growth & development
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Temperature*

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Messenger

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 31572258 to KZ; grant 31500306 to CZ), the West Light Foundation of Key Innovation Plan (grant KSCX2-EW–N-004 to CZ) and the Natural Science Foundation of Qinghai Province, China (grant 2016-ZJ-939Q to CZ). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.