LncRNA and mRNA expression characteristics and bioinformatics analysis of exosomes from sheep ovaries with different reproductive capacities

Hu sheep (HS) is known for its year-round estrus and multiple births, and is an ideal model for studying the mechanisms of high reproductive capacity in livestock. We established an RNA sequencing dataset to compare the expression profiles of long non coding RNA (lncRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) in the ovarian tissue exosomes of Hu sheep and low reproductive sheep breeds (Mongolian sheep) during estrus period. The results showed that compared to Mongolian sheep, Hu sheep had a total of 15 differentially expressed lncRNA transcripts and 180 mRNA transcripts. The co-expression network analysis of lncRNAs-mRNAs showed that the differentially expressed lncRNAs in Hu sheep, such as MSTRG.19742, MSTRG.26765, MSTRG.16098 and MSTRG.41067, were most correlated with the differentially expressed mRNAs. Our results indicate that there are differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs in the extracellular vesicles of sheep ovarian tissues with different reproductive abilities.