Differential expression profiles of microRNAs in musk gland of unmated and mated forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii)

Hang Jie; Zhongxian Xu; Jian Gao; Feng Li; Yinglian Chen; Dejun Zeng; Guijun Zhao; Diyan Li

doi:10.7717/peerj.12710

Differential expression profiles of microRNAs in musk gland of unmated and mated forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii)

PeerJ. 2021 Dec 22:9:e12710. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12710. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hang Jie^#¹, Zhongxian Xu^#^{2

3}, Jian Gao², Feng Li^{2

3}, Yinglian Chen¹, Dejun Zeng¹, Guijun Zhao¹, Diyan Li²

Affiliations

¹ Chongqing Institute of Medicinal Plant Cultivation, Bio-resource Research and Utilization joint key laboratory of Sichuan and Chongqing, Nanchuan, Chongqing, China.
² Sichuan Agricultural University, Institute of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
³ China West Normal University, Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), Nanchong, Sichuan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: The formation of musk is a complex biophysical and biochemical process that change with the rut of male forest musk deer. We have reported that the mating status of male forest musk deer might result to the variations of chemical composition and microbiota of musk and its yields. Critical roles for microRNAs (miRNAs) of multi-tissues were profiled in our previous study; however, the role for miRNAs of the musk gland remains unclear in this species.

Methods: In this study, we used Illumina deep sequencing technology to sequence the small RNA transcriptome of unmated male (UM) and mated male (UM) of Chinese forest musk deer.

Results: We identified 1,652 known miRNAs and 45 novel miRNAs, of which there were 174 differentially expressed miRNAs between UM and MM. chi-miR-21-5p, ipu-miR-99b and bta-miR-26a were up-regulated in UM among the 10 most differentially expressed miRNAs. Functional enrichment of the target genes showed that monosaccharide biosynthetic process, protein targeting, cellular protein catabolic process enriched higher in MM. Meanwhile, structural molecule activity, secretion by cell, regulated exocytosis and circulatory system process enriched more in UM, hinting that the formation of musk in UM was mediated by target genes related to exocytosis. The miRNA-mRNA pairs such as miR-21: CHD7, miR143: HSD17B7, miR-141/200a: Noc2 might involve in musk gland development and musk secretion, which need to be verified in future study.

Keywords: Expression profile; Mating status; MicroRNA; Musk deer; Musk gland.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC31672396 and NSFC81973428) and the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0024). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.