Transcriptome-wide study of mRNAs modified by m6A RNA methylation in the testis development of dairy goats.

Abstract

N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) is an important epigenetic modification in RNA, playing a crucial role in regulating the production and aging of animal testicular sperm. This study extracted mRNA from the testicular tissue of male goats before and after sexual maturity, generating a methylation map through preliminary experiments and methylation immunoprecipitation sequencing. The results showed that during the development of dairy goats, the expression levels of marker genes related to testicular development and methylation-related enzymes changed significantly. A total of 36,602 peaks and 11,223 genes were identified in the two groups, including 2989 differential peaks (427 upregulated and 2562 downregulated) and 1457 differentially expressed genes (833 upregulated and 624 downregulated). The abundance of m⁶A was positively correlated with gene expression levels. This study reports for the first time the mRNA profiles of m⁶A modifications across the entire transcriptome during testicular development in Guanzhong dairy goats, providing a new perspective for genetic improvement in goats.