Frontiers in Genetics (Jun 2022)

Expression Regulation Mechanisms of Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus intermedius) Under the High Temperature: New Evidence for the miRNA-mRNA Interaction Involvement

  • Lingshu Han,
  • Zijiao Quan,
  • Yanglei Wu,
  • Pengfei Hao,
  • Wenpei Wang,
  • Yuanxin Li,
  • Xianglei Zhang,
  • Peng Liu,
  • Chuang Gao,
  • Heng Wang,
  • Luo Wang,
  • Weijie Zhang,
  • Donghong Yin,
  • Yaqing Chang,
  • Jun Ding

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.876308
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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In the context of global warming and continuous high temperatures in the northern part of China during summer, the mortality rate of our main breeding species, Strongylocentrotus intermedius, reached 80% in 2020. How sea urchins respond to high temperatures is of great concern to academia and industry. In this study, we examined the antioxidant enzyme activities of different color tube-footed sea urchins under heat stress and compared their transcriptome and microRNA (miRNA) profiles using RNA-Seq. The results showed that the antioxidant enzyme activities of sea urchins were altered by thermal stress, and the changes in peroxidase activities of red tube-footed sea urchins were particularly significant. Investigations revealed that 1,079 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 11 DE miRNAs, and 104 “DE miRNA-DEG” pairs in total were detected in sea urchins under high temperature stress. Several mRNA and miRNAs were significantly changed (e.g. HSP70, DnaJ11, HYAL, CALR, miR-184-p5, miR-92a, miR-92c, and miR-124-p5), suggesting these genes and miRNAs exerted important functions in response to high temperature. At the transcriptional level, red tube-footed sea urchins were found to be more sensitive to high temperature and could respond to high temperature rapidly. DE miRNA-mRNA network showed that miR-92b-3p and PC-5p-7420 were the most corresponding miRNAs. Five mRNAs (DnaJ11, SAR1B, CALR, HYOU1, TUBA) may be potential markers of sea urchin response to high temperature. Possible interaction between miRNA-mRNA could be linked to protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum, Phagosomes, and calcium transport. This study provides a theoretical basis for the molecular mechanism of sea urchin heat tolerance and information that will aid in the selection and breeding of sea urchins with high temperature tolerance.

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