Comparative miRNA signatures among Sahiwal and Frieswal cattle breeds during summer stress.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to take part in different biological mechanisms, including biotic as well as abiotic cellular stresses. The present investigation was aimed to identify comparative expression profile of differentially expressed miRNAs among Sahiwal (Bos indicus) and Frieswal (Bos indicus × Bos taurus) cattle breeds during summer stress. Stress responses in animals were characterized by recording various physiological parameters, biochemical assays and expression profiling of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) during elevated environmental temperature. Ion Torrent-based deep sequencing as well as CLC-genomic analysis identified 322 and 420 Bos taurus annotated miRNAs among Sahiwal and Frieswal, respectively. A total 69 common miRNAs were identified to be differentially expressed during summer among the breeds. Out of the 69, a total 14 differentially expressed miRNAs viz. bta-mir 6536-2, bta-mir-2898, bta-mir-let-7b, bta-mir-425, bta-mir-2332, bta-mir-2478, bta-mir-150, bta-mir142, bta-mir-16a, bta-mir-2311, bta-mir-1839, bta-mir-1248-1, bta-mir-103-2 and bta-mir-181b were randomly selected for qRT-PCR-based validation. bta-mir-2898, bta-mir-6536-1, bta-mir-let-7b, bta-mir-2478, bta-mir-150, bta-mir-16a, bta-mir-2311, bta-mir-1032-b and bta-mir-181-b were significantly (p < 0.01) upregulated during summer among Frieswal in comparison to Sahiwal while, bta-mir 6536-2, bta-mir-2332, bta-mir142, bta-mir-1839 and bta-mir-1248-1 was significantly (p < 0.01) expressed at higher level in Sahiwal in contrast to Frieswal correlation coefficient analysis revealed that bta-mir(s)-150, 16a and 181b are negatively correlated (p < 0.05) with Hsp70 expression. Thus, this study identified that miRNA expression during summer stress can vary between the breeds which may reflect their differential post-transcriptional regulation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-020-02608-4. © King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2021.