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Complicated evolutionary patterns of microRNAs in vertebrates

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Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of ∼22 nt long endogenous non-coding RNAs that play important regulatory roles in diverse organisms. Up to now, little is known about the evolutionary properties of these crucial regulators. Most miRNAs were thought to be phylogenetically conserved, but recently, a number of poorly-conserved miRNAs have been reported and miRNA innovation is shown to be an ongoing process. In this work, through the characterization of an miRNA super family, we studied the evolutionary patterns of miRNAs in vertebrates. Recently generated miRNAs seem to evolve rapidly during a certain period following their emergence. Multiple lineage-specific expansions were observed. Homolgous premiRNAs may produce mature products from the opposite stem arms following tandem duplications, which may have important contribution to miRNA innovation. Our observations of miRNAs’ complicated evolutionary patterns support the notion that these key regulatory molecules may play very active roles in evolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Bioinformatics Division, TNLIST / Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    XiaoWo Wang, XueGong Zhang & YanDa Li

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  1. XiaoWo Wang
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  2. XueGong Zhang
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  3. YanDa Li
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Correspondence to YanDa Li.

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30625012, 60572086 and 60775002), and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB518605)

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Wang, X., Zhang, X. & Li, Y. Complicated evolutionary patterns of microRNAs in vertebrates. SCI CHINA SER C 51, 552–559 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-008-0075-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-008-0075-z

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