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Simple Summary: The lambing trait is an important production trait in sheep, and the FecB gene is one of the major genes affecting sheep reproduction. In order to explore the molecular regulatory mechanisms affecting lambing number in sheep, we used RNA-seq technology to detect the thyroid transcircRNA recombinome expression patterns during the luteal and luteal phases in different FecB genotypes of small-tail Han sheep (STH), identified reproduction-related circRNAs in the thyroid gland of STH sheep, and performed bioinformatic analysis, RT-qPCR validation of these genes, and dual luciferase reporter gene experimental validation to predict their potential functions in repopulation and better reveal the molecular mechanisms of thyroid organization during reproduction in sheep. Litter size is an economically important trait in sheep, and it is a complex trait controlled by multiple genes in multiple organs. Among them, the regulation of lamb number trait by the thyroid gland is a very important part. However, the molecular mechanisms of the thyroid gland in sheep reproduction remain unclear. Here, RNA-seq was used to detect transcriptome expression patterns in the thyroid gland between follicular phase (FP) and luteal phase (LP) in FecB BB (MM) and FecB ++ (ww) STH sheep, respectively, and to identify differentially expressed circRNAs (DECs) associated with reproduction. Bioinformatic analysis of the source genes of these DECs revealed that they can be enriched in multiple signaling pathways involved in the reproductive process of animals. We found that the source genes of these DECs, such as GNAQ, VEGFC, MAPK1, STAT1, and HSD17B7, may play important roles in the reproductive process of animals. To better understand the function of these DECs, we constructed circRNA–miRNA co-expression networks. Dual luciferase reporter assays suggested that a ceRNA regulatory mechanism between circ_0003259-oar-miR-133-TXLNA and circ_0012128-oar-miR-370-3p-FGFR1 may hold. All of these DEC expression profiles in the thyroid gland provide a novel resource for elucidating the regulatory mechanisms underlying STH sheep prolificacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The thyroid gland is an important endocrine gland in animals, which mainly secretes thyroid hormones and acts on various organs of the body. Long-chain non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in animal reproduction. However, there is still a lack of understanding of their expression patterns and potential roles in the thyroid of Small Tail Han (STH) sheep. In this study, RNA-seq was used to examine the transcriptome expression patterns of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the follicular phase (ww_FT) and luteal phase (ww_LT) in FecB++ genotype STH Sheep. A total of 17,217 lncRNAs and 39,112 mRNAs were identified including 96 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and 1054 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEGs). Functional analysis of genes with significant differences in expression level showed that these genes could be enriched in Ras signalling pathway, hedgehog (HH) signalling pathway, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and other signalling pathways related to animal reproduction. In addition, through correlation analysis for lncRNA–mRNA co-expression and network construction, we found that LNC_009115 and LNC_005796 trans target NIK-related kinase (NRK) and poly(A)-specific ribonuclease (PARN). LNC_007189 and LNC_002045 trans target progesterone-induced blocking factor 1 (PIBF1), LNC_009013 trans targets small mothers against decapentaplegic (SMAD1) are related to animal reproduction. These genes add new resources for elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of reproduction in sheep with different reproductive cycles of the FecB++ genotype STH sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackgroundResultsConclusionsThe thyroid gland is an important endocrine gland in animals that secretes thyroid hormones and acts on various organs throughout the body. lncRNAs are long non-coding RNAs that play an important role in animal reproduction; however, there is a lack of understanding of their expression patterns and potential roles in the thyroid gland of the Small Tail Han (STH) sheep. In this study, we used RNA-Seq technology to examine the transcriptome expression pattern of the thyroid from the luteal phase (LP) and follicular phase (FP) of FecB BB (MM) STH sheep.We identified a total of 122 and 1287 differential expression lncRNAs (DELs) and differential expression mRNAs (DEGs), respectively, which were significantly differentially expressed. These DELs target genes and DEGs can be enriched in several signalling pathways related to the animal reproduction process.The expression profiles of DELs and DEGs in thyroid glands provide a more comprehensive resource for elucidating the reproductive regulatory mechanisms of STH sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thyroid gland is an important endocrine gland in animals, which mainly secretes thyroid hormones and acts on various organs of the body. Long-chain non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in animal reproduction. However, there is still a lack of understanding of their expression patterns and potential roles in the thyroid of Small Tail Han (STH) sheep. In this study, RNA-seq was used to examine the transcriptome expression patterns of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the follicular phase (ww_FT) and luteal phase (ww_LT) in FecB ++ genotype STH Sheep. A total of 17,217 lncRNAs and 39,112 mRNAs were identified including 96 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and 1054 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEGs). Functional analysis of genes with significant differences in expression level showed that these genes could be enriched in Ras signalling pathway, hedgehog (HH) signalling pathway, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and other signalling pathways related to animal reproduction. In addition, through correlation analysis for lncRNA-mRNA co-expression and network construction, we found that LNC_009115 and LNC_005796 trans target NIK-related kinase ( NRK ) and poly(A)-specific ribonuclease ( PARN ). LNC_007189 and LNC_002045 trans target progesterone-induced blocking factor 1 ( PIBF1 ), LNC_009013 trans targets small mothers against decapentaplegic ( SMAD1 ) are related to animal reproduction. These genes add new resources for elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of reproduction in sheep with different reproductive cycles of the FecB ++ genotype STH sheep.