Identification and characterization of microRNAs in the muscle of Schizothorax prenanti.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression by fully or partially binding to complementary sequences and play important roles in skeletal muscle development. However, the roles of miRNAs in the skeletal muscle of Schizothorax prenanti remain unknown. In this study, we analyzed the miRNA profiling in the skeletal muscle of S. prenanti at 30 days post-hatching (dph), 1 year, and 3 years by high-throughput sequencing. Two hundred twenty-nine unique miRNA types aligned to 201 independent pre-miRNA loci according to sequence similarity and 28 novel miRNAs were obtained. The nucleotide bias analysis of identified miRNAs showed that the miRNAs in S. prenanti were highly conserved. Eight identified miRNAs validated using stem-loop qRT-PCR were differentially expressed in the process of skeletal muscle development of S. prenanti. This study provide not only an overall insight into the miRNA landscape in the skeletal muscle of S. prenanti but also a basis for further investigation of miRNA roles in skeletal muscle development of S. prenanti.