High-throughput sequencing of pituitary and hypothalamic microRNA transcriptome associated with high rate of egg production

摘要

Background MicroRNAs exist widely in viruses, plants and animals. As endogenous small non-coding RNAs, miRNAs regulate a variety of biological processes. Tissue miRNA expression studies have discovered numerous functions for miRNAs in various tissues of chicken, but the regulation of miRNAs in chicken pituitary and hypothalamic development related to high and low egg-laying performance has remained unclear. Results In this study, using high-throughput sequencing technology, we sequenced two tissues (pituitary and hypothalamus) in 3 high- and 3 low-rate egg production Luhua chickens at the age of 300?days. By comparing low- and high-rate egg production chickens, 46 known miRNAs and 27 novel miRNAs were identified as differentially expressed ( P Conclusions These differentially expressed miRNAs and their predicted target genes, especially identified reciprocally expressed miRNA-target pairs, advance the study of miRNA function and egg production associated miRNA identification. The analysis of the miRNA-related SNPs and their effects provided insights into the effects of SNPs on miRNA biogenesis and function. The data generated in this study will further our understanding of miRNA regulation mechanisms in the chicken egg-laying process.