Characterization of m6A in domesticated yak testis before and after sexual maturity

ABSTRACT: N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most common internal modification of eukaryotic mRNA, and its potential regulatory role has recently been identified in mammals, plants, and yeast. However, little is known about the role of m6A methylation in mammalian sexual maturation. In this study, the testicular tissue of yaks before and after sexual maturation was taken as the research object, and the m6A map of testicular tissue of yaks before and after sexual maturation was obtained through the preliminary experiment and MERIP-seq. The results showed that only spermatogonial cells and some primary spermatocytes could be seen in the testicular tissue of yak before sexual maturation, while spermatogenic cells at different stages could be seen in the testicular tissue after sexual maturation. It was found that the methylation level was higher after sexual maturation than before by detecting the expression of methylation related enzymes and the overall methylation level of testis. There were 1438 differential methylation peaks before and after sexual maturation, of which 1226 were significantly up-regulated and 212 were significantly down-regulated after sexual maturation. Through annotation, it was found that the differential methylation peaks were mainly concentrated in the exon region, followed by 3'UTR, and finally 5'UTR. KEGG pathway analysis showed that Homologous recombination, Notch signaling pathway, Growth hormone synthesis and other signaling pathways may be related to testicular development and maturation. m6A modification was positively correlated with mRNA abundance, suggesting that m6A plays a regulatory role in mammalian sexual maturation. In this study, we reported for the first time the m6A transcriptional map of yak testis, providing a starting point for revealing the function of m6A that may affect the development of yak testis.

ORGANISM(S): Bos grunniens

PROVIDER: GSE181266 | GEO | 2021/08/03

REPOSITORIES: GEO