Comprehensive analysis of differentially expressed mRNAs, circRNAs, and miRNAs and their ceRNA network in the testis of cattle–yak, yak, and cattle

Cattle–yak is a hybrid offspring resulting from the crossbreeding of yak and cattle, and it exhibits substantial heterosis in production performance. However, male sterility in cattle–yak remains a concern. Reports suggest that noncoding RNAs are involved in the regulation of spermatogenesis. Therefore, in this study, we comprehensively compared testicular transcription profiles among cattle, yak, and cattle–yak. Numerous differentially expressed genes (DEGs), differentially expressed circRNAs (DECs), and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified in the intersection of two comparison groups, namely cattle versus cattle–yak and yak versus cattle–yak, with the number of DEGs, DECs, and DEMs being 4968, 360, and 59, respectively. The DEGs in cattle–yaks, cattle, and yaks were mainly associated with spermatogenesis, male gamete generation, and sexual reproduction. Concurrently, GO and KEGG analyses indicated that DEC host genes and DEM source genes were involved in the regulation of spermatogenesis. The construction of a potential competing endogenous RNA network revealed that some differentially expressed noncoding RNAs may be involved in regulating the expression of genes related to testicular spermatogenesis, including miR-423-5p, miR-449b, miR-34b/c, and miR-15b, as well as previously unreported miR-6123 and miR-1306, along with various miRNA–circRNA interaction pairs. This study serves as a valuable reference for further investigations into the mechanisms underlying male sterility in cattle–yaks.