Regulatory Potential of Long Non-Coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in Boar Spermatozoa with Good and Poor Freezability
Leyland Fraser,
Łukasz Paukszto,
Anna Mańkowska,
Paweł Brym,
Przemysław Gilun,
Jan P. Jastrzębski,
Chandra S. Pareek,
Dibyendu Kumar,
Mariusz Pierzchała
Affiliations
Leyland Fraser
Department of Animal Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Łukasz Paukszto
Department of Plant Physiology, Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Anna Mańkowska
Department of Animal Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Paweł Brym
Department of Animal Genetics, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Przemysław Gilun
Department of Local Physiological Regulations, Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Bydgoska 7, 10-243 Olsztyn, Poland
Jan P. Jastrzębski
Department of Plant Physiology, Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Chandra S. Pareek
Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus, University, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Dibyendu Kumar
Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08554, USA
Mariusz Pierzchała
Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, 05-552 Magdalenka, Poland
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are suggested to play an important role in the sperm biological processes. We performed de novo transcriptome assembly to characterize lncRNAs in spermatozoa, and to investigate the role of the potential target genes of the differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) in sperm freezability. We detected approximately 4007 DElncRNAs, which were differentially expressed in spermatozoa from boars classified as having good and poor semen freezability (GSF and PSF, respectively). Most of the DElncRNAs were upregulated in boars of the PSF group and appeared to significantly affect the sperm’s response to the cryopreservation conditions. Furthermore, we predicted that the potential target genes were regulated by DElncRNAs in cis or trans. It was found that DElncRNAs of both freezability groups had potential cis- and trans-regulatory effects on different protein-coding genes, such as COX7A2L, TXNDC8 and SOX-7. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment revealed that the DElncRNA target genes are associated with numerous biological processes, including signal transduction, response to stress, cell death (apoptosis), motility and embryo development. Significant differences in the de novo assembled transcriptome expression profiles of the DElncRNAs between the freezability groups were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. This study reveals the potential effects of protein-coding genes of DElncRNAs on sperm functions, which could contribute to further research on their relevance in semen freezability.
