Transcriptome profiling of m6 a mrna modification in bovine mammary epithelial cells treated with escherichia coli

Abstract

Mastitis is a common disease in dairy cows that is mostly caused by E. coli, and it brings massive losses to the dairy industry. N6-Methyladenosine (m6 A), a methylation at the N6 position of RNA adenine, is a type of modification strongly associated with many diseases. However, the role of m6 A in mastitis has not been investigated. In this study, we used MeRIP-seq to sequence the RNA of bovine mammary epithelial cells treated with inactivated E. coli for 24 h. In this in vitro infection model, there were 16,691 m6 A peaks within 7066 mRNA transcripts in the Con group and 10,029 peaks within 4891 transcripts in the E. coli group. Compared with the Con group, 474 mRNAs were hypermethylated and 2101 mRNAs were hypomethylated in the E. coli group. Biological function analyses revealed differential m6 A-modified genes mainly enriched in the MAPK, NF-κB, and TGF-β signaling pathways. In order to explore the relationship between m6 A and mRNA expression, combined MeRIP-seq and mRNA-seq analyses revealed 212 genes with concomitant changes in the mRNA expression and m6 A modification. This study is the first to present a map of RNA m6 A modification in mastitis treated with E. coli, providing a basis for future research.