Genome-wide analysis of long non-coding RNAs and their role in postnatal porcine testis development

A comprehensive and systematic understanding of the roles of IncRNAs in the postnatal development of the pig testis has still not been achieved. In the present study, we obtained more than one billion clean reads and identified 15,528 IncRNA transcripts; these transcripts included 5032 known and 10,496 novel porcine IncRNA transcripts and corresponded to 10,041 IncRNA genes. Pairwise comparisons identified 449 known and 324 novel IncRNAs that showed differential expression patterns. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses revealed that the targeted genes were involved in metabolic pathways regulating testis development and spermatogenesis, such as the TGF-beta pathway, the PI3K-Akt pathway, the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, and the AMPK pathway. Using this information, we predicted some IncRNAs and coding gene pairs were predicted that may function in testis development and spermatogenesis; these are listed in detail. This study has provided the most comprehensive catalog to date of IncRNAs in the postnatal pig testis and will aid our understanding of their functional roles in testis development and spermatogenesis. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc.