Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) have been extensively studied in biological processes such as disease development, cell proliferation but remained unclear in sex differentiation in organisms. In this study, the transcriptome profiles were comparatively analyzed between male and female gonads in Mauremys mutica. A total of 8237 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 9573 DE lncRNAs, 84 DE circRNAs and 665 DE miRNAs were identified between male and female gonads. Through gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) of the DE RNAs, it was revealed that the DE mRNAs were majorly involved in GO terms, such as 'reproduction', 'reproductive process' and the pathways of 'focal adhesion' and 'oocyte meiosis'. In addition, a co-expression network showed that the expression of gametogenesis and sex differentiation related genes, including dmrt3a, tdrd7, sox14, etc were closely associated with the levels of their corresponding ncRNAs. Intriguingly, the dmrt1 circRNA and its target mRNA were detected upregulated both in adult testis and male producing temperature (MPT) embryos. Our findings demonstrated the sexually dimorphic expression profiles of mRNAs and ncRNAs in turtle gonads, which will provide the index to find out the molecular mechanisms behind the sex differentiation in turtles, even in other environmental sex determination (ESD) species.

中文翻译：

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比较转录组分析揭示了亚洲黄塘龟（Meauremys mutica）中mRNA和非编码RNA的有性二态表达谱。

非编码RNA（ncRNA），包括长ncRNA（lncRNA），环状RNA（circRNA）和microRNA（miRNA）已在诸如疾病发展，细胞增殖等生物学过程中进行了广泛研究，但在生物体的性别分化方面仍不清楚。在这项研究中，比较了Mauremys mutica中男性和女性性腺的转录组谱。在男性和女性性腺之间共鉴定出8237个差异表达基因（DEG），9573个DE lncRNA，84个DE circRNA和665个DE miRNA。通过DE RNA的基因本体论（GO）和《京都基因与基因组百科全书》（KEGG），我们发现DE mRNA参与了GO术语，例如“繁殖”，“生殖过程”和“ RNA途径”。粘连”和“卵母细胞减数分裂”。此外，一个共表达网络表明，配子发生和性别分化相关基因（包括dmrt3a，tdrd7，sox14等）的表达与其相应的ncRNA的水平密切相关。有趣的是，在成年睾丸和雄性产生温度（MPT）胚胎中都检测到了dmrt1 circRNA及其靶mRNA的上调。我们的发现证明了龟性腺中mRNA和ncRNA的有性双态表达谱，这将为寻找龟性别分化背后的分子机制提供索引，即使在其他环境性别决定（ESD）物种中也是如此。dmrt1 circRNA及其靶标mRNA在成年睾丸和雄性产生温度（MPT）胚胎中均被上调。我们的发现证明了龟性腺中mRNA和ncRNA的有性双态表达谱，这将为寻找龟性别分化背后的分子机制提供索引，即使在其他环境性别决定（ESD）物种中也是如此。dmrt1 circRNA及其靶标mRNA在成年睾丸和雄性产生温度（MPT）胚胎中均被上调。我们的发现证明了龟性腺中mRNA和ncRNA的有性双态表达谱，这将为寻找龟性别分化背后的分子机制提供索引，即使在其他环境性别决定（ESD）物种中也是如此。