Whole Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals miRNAs and ceRNA Networks in Duck Abdominal Fat Deposition

Excessive deposition of abdominal fat will cause a waste of resources. In order to explore the key miRNAs and circRNA/lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA regulatory network involved in regulating abdominal fat deposition, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was performed on abdominal fat tissues of ducks in the high abdominal fat rate group (HF) and low abdominal fat rate group (LF) at 21 and 42 days of age, and whole transcriptome sequencing was performed on abdominal tissues of ducks in the HF and LF groups at 42 days of age. The results showed that the number of adipocytes in ducks in the HF group was significantly higher than that in the LF group at 21 days of age (<i>p</i> < 0.001), while the number of adipocytes in ducks in the HF group at 42 days of age was significantly lower than that in the LF group (<i>p</i> < 0.001). In addition, transcriptome sequencing screened out a total of 14 differentially expressed miRNAs (10 miRNAs were significantly up-regulated, and 4 miRNAs were significantly down-regulated). By predicting the target genes of these differentially expressed miRNAs, a total of 305 target genes were obtained. Further analysis of miRNA target genes using GO and KEGG functional enrichment analyses revealed that these target genes were significantly enriched in the GnRH signaling pathway, the PPAR signaling pathway, insulin resistance, the mTOR signaling pathway, the AMPK signaling pathway, the FoxO signaling pathway, and other pathways related to adipose development. In addition, miRNA-205-x, miRNA-6529-x, miRNA-194-x, miRNA-215-x, miRNA-3074-x, miRNA-2954-x, novel-m0133-3p, and novel-m0156-5p were found to be important candidate miRNAs for abdominal fat deposition in ducks. These miRNAs were related to the expression of <i>FOXO3</i>, <i>LIFR</i>, <i>Pdk4</i>, <i>PPARA</i>, <i>FBN1</i>, <i>MYH10</i>, <i>Cd44</i>, <i>PRELP</i>, <i>Esrrg</i>, <i>AKT3</i>, and <i>STC2</i>. Based on these eight candidate miRNAs, a ceRNA regulatory network of circRNA/lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulating abdominal fat deposition was successfully constructed. The results of this study will provide a useful reference for accelerating the understanding of the molecular mechanism of duck abdominal fat deposition.