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. 2023 Feb 12;14(2):473.
doi: 10.3390/genes14020473.

The Identification and Characteristics of miRNAs Related to Cashmere Fiber Traits in Skin Tissue of Cashmere Goats

Lirong Qiao  1 , Yuanhua Gu  1 , Shiwei Guo  1 , Shiqiang Li  1 , Jiqing Wang  1 , Zhiyun Hao  1 , Yuzhu Luo  1 , Xiu Liu  1 , Shaobin Li  1 , Fangfang Zhao  1 , Mingna Li  1
Affiliations

The Identification and Characteristics of miRNAs Related to Cashmere Fiber Traits in Skin Tissue of Cashmere Goats

Lirong Qiao et al. Genes (Basel). .

Abstract

microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation of biological phenomena by down-regulating the expression of mRNAs. In this study, Liaoning cashmere (LC) goats (n = 6) and Ziwuling black (ZB) goats (n = 6) with different cashmere fiber production performances were selected. We supposed that miRNAs are responsible for the cashmere fiber trait differences. To test the hypothesis, the expression profiles of miRNAs from the skin tissue of the two caprine breeds were compared using small RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). A total of 1293 miRNAs were expressed in the caprine skin samples, including 399 known caprine miRNAs, 691 known species-conserved miRNAs, and 203 novel miRNAs. Compared with ZB goats, 112 up-regulated miRNAs, and 32 down-regulated miRNAs were found in LC goats. The target genes of the differentially expressed miRNAs were remarkably concentrated on some terms and pathways associated with cashmere fiber performance, including binding, cell, cellular protein modification process, and Wnt, Notch, and MAPK signaling pathways. The miRNA-mRNA interaction network found that 14 miRNAs selected may contribute to cashmere fiber traits regulation by targeting functional genes associated with hair follicle activities. The results have reinforced others leading to a solid foundation for further investigation of the influences of individual miRNAs on cashmere fiber traits in cashmere goats.

Keywords: cashmere fiber properties; cashmere goats; miRNAs; small RNA sequencing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The proportion of small RNAs in the skin tissue samples of Liaoning cashmere (LC) goats and Ziwuling black (ZB) goats.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot of expressed miRNAs in two cashmere goat breeds.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The comparison of results from RT-qPCR with those from small RNA-seq in skin tissue samples for 17 miRNAs. The error bars indicate the standard deviation of the mean values of three technological replicates for each sample.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The top 10 terms in each Gene Ontology (GO) category concentrated by the target genes. The X-axis and Y-axis show the calculated results of -Log10 (p-value) and title of GO terms, respectively.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The top 15 KEGG signaling pathways in the skin samples. The upper X-axis and X-axis below represents the calculated results of −Log10 (p-value) and the amount of the target mRNAs, respectively.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The miRNA-mRNA interaction figure. The red triangles and inverted triangles indicate up-regulated and down-regulated miRNAs in the skin tissue samples of LC goats when compared to ZB goats, respectively. Blue circles represent the target genes.
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