Identification and analysis of differentially expressed (DE) circRNA in epididymis of yak and cattleyak

Chunhai Li; Yan Yan; Cheng Pan; Michael Adjei; Khuram Shahzad; Peng Wang; Meilan Pan; Kerui Li; Ye Wang; Wangsheng Zhao

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1040419

Identification and analysis of differentially expressed (DE) circRNA in epididymis of yak and cattleyak

Front Vet Sci. 2023 Feb 7:10:1040419. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1040419. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chunhai Li¹, Yan Yan², Cheng Pan¹, Michael Adjei¹, Khuram Shahzad³, Peng Wang¹, Meilan Pan¹, Kerui Li¹, Ye Wang⁴, Wangsheng Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan, China.
² College of Life Sciences, Yan'an University, Yan'An, Shaanxi, China.
³ Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology on Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), as endogenous non-coding RNA with unique closed ring structure, is closely related to animal reproduction, and understanding the expression of circRNA in yak and cattleyak epididymal tissues is of great significance for understanding cattleyak sterility. Based on this, we screened and identified the differentially expressed circRNA in the epididymis of three yaks and two cattleyak. A total of 1,298 circRNAs were identified in the epididymis of yak and cattleyak, of which 137 differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs and the functions of some of them were elucidated in this research, as well as qPCR verification to 6 circRNAs from the 137 DE circRNAs. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis suggested that DE circRNAs were mainly related to metabolic process, development process, immune system process, reproductive process, reproduction, biological adhesion and growth. COG classification analysis showed that the DE circRNAs derived genes were mainly related to replication, recombination and repair. KEGG pathway analysis suggested that DE circRNAs were mainly involved in RNA degradation. In addition, we also screened Bta-mir-103, which is a circRNA binding miRNA related to sperm activity.

Keywords: DE circRNA; cattle; cattleyak; epididymis; transcriptome sequencing.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Qinghai Provincial Central Government Guidance Local Science and Technology Development Fund Project (2023ZY026), Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2021YFH0101), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31601946), and Longshan Academic Talent Research Supporting Program of SWUST (17LZX671 and 18lzx661).