Genome-wide discovery of the lincRNAs with spatiotemporal expression pattern in the hair follicles of goat during the cashmere growth cycle. Capra hircus breed:Aerbasi cashmere goat

We identified a total of 2,377 potential lincRNA transcripts overlapping 1,451 lincRNA genes. These lincRNAs exhibited a tissue-specific pattern. Specifically, 327 lincRNAs were expressed exclusively in only one tissue, and 92 hair follicle-specific lincRNAs were identified. In addition, more than one thousand time-specific mRNAs and 47 lincRNAs were identified in the skin of goat, with the majority exhibiting the most significantly differential expression in the transition of the secondary hair follicle (SHF) from the early anagen phase to the anagen phase. Fundamental biological processes, such as hair/skin/nail development, were significantly enriched in these genes. Furthermore, we identified seven spatiotemporal hair follicle-specific lincRNAs that exhibited not only a co-expression with the key factors to the hair follicle development but also activated expression in the transition from the early anagen phase to the anagen phase. Intriguingly, one of the seven spatiotemporal lincRNAs, linc-chig1020 could be a potential regulator of distal-less homeobox 3 expression during SHF growth.