Ovarian transcriptomic study reveals the differential regulation of miRNAs and lncRNAs related to fecundity in different sheep

miRNAs and lncRNAs, which represent one of the most highly expressed classes of ncRNAs in development, are attracting increasing interest. A variety of regulators is considered to be implicated in sheep species with different fecundity. However, interactions between miRNAs and lncRNAs and changes in the expression of regulatory lncRNAs in sheep fecundity have not yet been reported. To characterize the important roles of miRNAs and lncRNAs and elucidate their regulating networks in sheep prolificacy, a genome-wide analysis of miRNAs and lncRNAs from Small Tail Han sheep of genotypes FecB(B)FecB(B) (Han BB) and FecB(+) FecB(+) (Han++) and from Dorset sheep (Dorset) was performed. An integrated analysis of miRNAs and lncRNAs was performed to study the regulatory function of miRNAs and lncRNAs in fecundity, revealing significantly correlated patterns of expression. Dramatic changes of miRNAs and lncRNAs suggest their critical roles in sheep fecundity. In conclusion, this is the first study performing thorough investigations of regulatory relationships among lncRNAs, miRNA and mRNAs, which will provide a novel view of the regulatory mechanisms involved in sheep fecundity. These results may provide further insight into sheep fecundity and help us to improve sheep prolificacy.