Screening of Differentially Expressed Genes and miRNAs in Hypothalamus and Pituitary Gland of Sheep under Different Photoperiods

Abstract

The reproduction of sheep is affected by many factors such as light, nutrition and genetics. The Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis is an important pathway for sheep reproduction, and changes in HPG axis-related gene expression can affect sheep reproduction. In this study, a model of bilateral ovarian removal and estrogen supplementation (OVX + E2) was applied to screen differentially expressed genes and miRNAs under different photoperiods using whole transcriptome sequencing and reveal the regulatory effects of the photoperiod on the upstream tissues of the HPG axis in sheep. Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed in ewe hypothalamus (HYP) and distal pituitary (PD) tissues under short photoperiod 21st day (SP21) and long photoperiod 21st day (LP21). Compared to the short photoperiod, a total of 1813 differential genes (up-regulation 966 and down-regulation 847) and 145 differential miRNAs (up-regulation 73 and down-regulation 72) were identified in the hypothalamus of long photoperiod group. Similarly, 2492 differential genes (up-regulation 1829 and down-regulation 663) and 59 differential miRNAs (up-regulation 49 and down-regulation 10) were identified in the pituitary of long photoperiod group. Subsequently, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the differential genes and target genes of differential miRNA were enriched in GnRH, Wnt, ErbB and circadian rhythm pathways associated with reproduction. Combined with sequence complementation and gene expression correlation analysis, several miRNA-mRNA target combinations (e.g., LHB regulated by novel-414) were obtained. Taken together, these results will help to understand the regulatory effect of the photoperiod on the upstream tissues of HPG in sheep.