Spatiotemporal Regulation and Functional Analysis of Circular RNAs in Skeletal Muscle and Subcutaneous Fat during Pig Growth
Biao Li,
Jinzeng Yang,
Jun He,
Yan Gong,
Yu Xiao,
Qinghua Zeng,
Kang Xu,
Yehui Duan,
Jianhua He,
Haiming Ma
Affiliations
Biao Li
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Jinzeng Yang
Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Jun He
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Yan Gong
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Yu Xiao
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Qinghua Zeng
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Kang Xu
Laboratory of Animal Nutritional Physiology and Metabolic Process, Key Laboratory of Agroecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha 410125, China
Yehui Duan
Laboratory of Animal Nutritional Physiology and Metabolic Process, Key Laboratory of Agroecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha 410125, China
Jianhua He
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Haiming Ma
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Recently, thousands of circular RNAs have been reported in different pig breeds. However, researches on the temporal and spatial expression patterns of circRNA over the period of animal growth are limited. Here, we systematically analyzed circRNAs in skeletal muscle and subcutaneous fat in four growth time points (30 days, 90 days, 150 days and 210 days after birth) of a Chinese native pig breed, Ningxiang pigs. A total of 1171 differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs between muscle and fat were identified, including 562 upregulated and 609 downregulated circRNAs. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of these DE circRNAs revealed that host genes were mainly involved in glycogen metabolism signaling pathways, muscle development signaling pathways such as ErbB pathway and adipocytokine signaling pathways and AMPK signaling pathways and fatty acid biosynthesis. The circRNAs have striking spatiotemporal specificity in the form of dynamic expression at 90 d. Short Time-Series Expression Miner analysis showed multiple model spectra that are significantly enriched with time changes in muscle and fat. Our findings provide new ideas and perspectives about the role of circular RNAs and their targeting relations with mRNA and miRNA in skeletal muscle and fat tissue during pig growth.
