The whole transcriptome analysis for seminal plasma extracellular vesicles (SPEVs) of Yorkshire boars

The seminal plasma contains large quantities of extracellular vesicles (EVs). However, the role of these EVs and their interactions with sperms are not clear. To identify the important molecules affecting sperm motility in EVs, we sequenced the EVs in the seminal plasma of Yorkshire boars with different sperm motility using whole RNA sequence. We evaluated the sperm motility phenotypic data of 230 boars by using a computer-assisted sperm analysis from a national boar station. Twelve Yorkshire boars with high sperm motility and twelve Yorkshire boars with low sperm motility were selected for SPEV extraction. All the individuals were sexually mature, aged between 14 and 36 months old. The average total sperm motility of H group was 0.94, while that of L group was 0.40. For each boar, 60 mL of semen plasma was used to extract EVs. Deep RNA sequencing was performed to gain insight into the types of RNA in SPEVs, including mRNAs, miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs.