Transcriptome-wide m6A methylation of Wuhua yellow-feathered chicken ovary revealed potential molecular mechanisms underlying the low egg performance
RNA N6-melthyladenosine has been suggested to play important roles in various biological processes. Chicken ovary development is a process controlled by complex gene regulations. In this study, transcriptome-wide m6A methylation of the Wuhua yellow-feathered chicken ovaries before and after sexual maturation was profiled to identify potential molecular mechanisms underlying chicken ovary development. The results showed that m6A levels of mRNAs changed dramatically during sexual maturity. A total of 1476 differential m6A peaks were found between these two stages with 662 significantly up-regulated methylation peaks and 814 down-regulated methylation peaks after sexual maturation. A positive correlation was found between the m6A peaks and gene expression levels. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that apoptosis related pathways might be the key molecular regulatory pathway underlying the poor reproductive performance of Wuhua yellow-feathered chicken. The fine expressional regulation of genes related to follicles development and follicle atresia controlled by m6A during the maturity results in the poor reproductive performance in the Wuhua yellow-feathered chicken. However, the regulatory mechanisms are still unclear, thus more further studies are required. The pathways and corresponding candidate genes found here may be useful for molecular design breeding for improving egg production performance in Chinese local chicken breed, and it will also benefit for the genetic resource protection of valuable avian species. Overall design: Detection of m6A in Wuhua yellow-feathered chicken before and after sexual maturity