Identification and characterization of circRNAs in the skin during wool follicle development in Aohan fine wool sheep

Background: Aohan fine wool sheep (AFWS) is a historically bred fine wool sheep, cultivated in China. The wool has excellent quality and good textile performance. Investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate wool growth is important to improve wool quality and yield. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that are widely expressed, and can act as a competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to bind to miRNAs. Although circRNAs have been studied in many fields, research on their activity in sheep wool follicles is limited. To understand the regulation of circRNAs in the growth of fine wool in sheep, we used RNA-seq to identify circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin samples at three developmental stages: embryonic day 90 (E90d), embryonic day 120 (E120d), and at birth (Birth). Results: We identified 8,753 circRNAs and found that 918 were differentially-expressed. We then analyzed the classification and characteristic of the circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin. Using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), we identified the source genes of circRNAs, which were mainly enriched in cellular component organization, regulation of primary metabolic processes, tight junctions, and the cGMP-PKG and AMPK signaling pathways. In addition, we predict interactions between 17 circRNAs and eight miRNAs, using miRanda software. Based on the significant pathways, we speculate that circ_0005720, circ_0001754, circ_0008036, circ_0004032, circ_0005174, circ_0005519, circ_0007826 might play an important role in regulating wool follicle growth in AFWS. Seven circRNAs were randomly selected, and have validated the results of the RNA-seq by qRT-PCR. Conclusion: Our results provide more information about circRNAs in regulating wool follicle development in AFWS, and establish a solid foundation for future research.

Identification and characterization of circRNAs in the skin during wool follicle development in Aohan fine wool sheep

Background: Aohan fine wool sheep (AFWS) is a historically bred fine wool sheep, cultivated in China. The wool has excellent quality and good textile performance. Investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate wool growth is important to improve wool quality and yield. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that are widely expressed, and can act as a competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to bind to miRNAs. Although circRNAs have been studied in many fields, research on their activity in sheep wool follicles is limited. To understand the regulation of circRNAs in the growth of fine wool in sheep, we used RNA-seq to identify circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin samples at three developmental stages: embryonic day 90 (E90d), embryonic day 120 (E120d), and at birth (Birth). Results: We identified 8,753 circRNAs and found that 918 were differentially-expressed. We then analyzed the classification and characteristic of the circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin. Using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), we identified the source genes of circRNAs, which were mainly enriched in cellular component organization, regulation of primary metabolic processes, tight junctions, and the cGMP-PKG and AMPK signaling pathways. In addition, we predict interactions between 17 circRNAs and eight miRNAs, using miRanda software. Based on the significant pathways, we speculate that circ_0005720, circ_0001754, circ_0008036, circ_0004032, circ_0005174, circ_0005519, circ_0007826 might play an important role in regulating wool follicle growth in AFWS. Seven circRNAs were randomly selected, and have validated the results of the RNA-seq by qRT-PCR. Conclusion: Our results provide more information about circRNAs in regulating wool follicle development in AFWS, and establish a solid foundation for future research.

Identification and characterization of circRNAs in the skin during the wool follicle development of Aohan fine wool sheep

Background Aohan fine wool sheep (AFWS) is an early fine wool variety breed cultivated in China. The wool has excellent quality and good textile performance. Investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate wool growth is important for improving wool quality and yield. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs which are widely expressed and can act as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to bind to miRNA. Although circRNA has been studied in many fields, research in sheep wool follicles is limited. To understand the regulation of circRNA in the growth of fine wool sheep, we used RNA-seq to identify circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin at three stages, embryonic day 90 (E90d), embryonic day 120 (E120d), and Birth.Results We identified 8,753circRNAs and found that 1,351 were differentially expressed. We also analyzed the classification and characteristic of the circRNAs in sheep shoulder skin. GO and KEGG were used for source genes of circRNAs, and these were mainly enriched in cellular component organization, regulation of primary metabolic process, tight junctions, and the cGMP-PKG and AMPK signaling pathways. In addition, we predicted interactions between 17 circRNAs and 8 miRNAs using miRanda ( http://www.microrna.org/microrna/home.do ). Based on the significant pathways, we speculate the circ-0005720, circ-0001754, circ-0008036, circ-0004032, circ-0005174, circ-0005519, circ-0007826 may play an important role in regulating wool follicle growth in AFWS. 5 circRNAs were randomly selected to validate the results of the RNA-seq by qRT-PCR.Conclusion Our results provide more information about circRNAs in regulating wool follicle development in AFWS and provide a solid foundation for future experiments.