Differential expression of miRNAs in the body wall of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus under heat stress

Abstract

MicroRNAs, as one of the post-transcriptional regulation of genes, play an important role in the development process, cell differentiation and immune defense. The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is an important cold-water species, known for its excellent nutritional and economic value, which usually encounters heat stress that affects its growth and leads to significant economic losses. However, there are few studies about the effect of miRNAs on heat stress in sea cucumbers. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze miRNA expression in the body wall of sea cucumber between the control group (CS) and the heat stress group (HS). A total of 403 known miRNAs and 75 novel miRNAs were identified, of which 13 miRNAs were identified as significantly differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) in response to heat stress. A total of 16,563 target genes of DEMs were predicted, and 101 inversely correlated target genes that were potentially regulated by miRNAs in response to heat stress of sea cucumbers were obtained. Based on these results, miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks were constructed. The expression results of high-throughput sequencing were validated in nine DEMs and four differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Moreover, pathway enrichment of target genes suggested that several important regulatory pathways may play an important role in the heat stress process of sea cucumber, including ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, notch single pathway and endocytosis. These results will provide basic data for future studies in miRNA regulation and molecular adaptive mechanisms of sea cucumbers under heat stress.

Genome-wide DNA methylation and transcription analysis reveal the potential epigenetic mechanism of heat stress response in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

“…The rapid and persistent response of hsp70 indicates its critical role in the heat stress response of A. japonicus (Xu et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2016). The up-regulated expression of hsp70 in sea cucumbers under heat stress has also been detected in our previous study (Chang et al, 2022). Additionally, clca1 was found to be a key gene in IL-13 (Proinflammatory interleukin-13) dependent mucosal metaplasia (Alevy et al, 2012).…”

“…Chen (2020) also revealed that DEGs in the intestine were significantly enriched in immune-related GO terms after heat stress of A. japonicus, such as toll-like receptor 3, carboxyterminal kinesin 2-like, and complement component C3. Studies have also shown that A. japonicus can respond to heat stress by regulating the expression of immune-related genes with some noncoding RNAs such as miRNA, circRNA and lncRNA (Huo et al, 2020;Huo et al, 2021;Chang et al, 2022). In the present study, the down-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in immunerelated pathways such as notch signaling pathway, ubiquitin mediated proteolysis, and MAPK signaling pathway.…”

Profiling miRNAs of Teleost Fish in Responses to Environmental Stress: A Review

“…Splicing factor proline protein can regulate miRNA silencing on specific binding sites and globally impact miRNA-dependent gene expression programs [ 74 ]. Many studies have also reported that miRNAs can provide reversible gene silencing mechanisms in aestivation and hibernation and are involved in cellular adaptation to specific demands under stressful conditions [ 75 , 76 ]. In recent years, epigenetic factors have been thought to overwhelm gene expression and corresponding protein products.…”