Evolution of microRNA in primates.
MicroRNA play an important role in post-transcriptional regulation of most transcripts in the human genome, but their evolution across the primate lineage is largely uncharacterized. A particular miRNA can have one to thousands of messenger RNA targets, establishing the potential for a small change...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176596&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1826579458571632640 |
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| author | Jey C McCreight Sean E Schneider Damien B Wilburn Willie J Swanson |
| author_facet | Jey C McCreight Sean E Schneider Damien B Wilburn Willie J Swanson |
| author_sort | Jey C McCreight |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | MicroRNA play an important role in post-transcriptional regulation of most transcripts in the human genome, but their evolution across the primate lineage is largely uncharacterized. A particular miRNA can have one to thousands of messenger RNA targets, establishing the potential for a small change in sequence or overall miRNA structure to have profound phenotypic effects. However, the majority of non-human primate miRNA is predicted solely by homology to the human genome and lacks experimental validation. In the present study, we sequenced thirteen species representing a wide range of the primate phylogeny. Hundreds of miRNA were validated, and the number of species with experimentally validated miRNA was tripled. These species include a sister taxon to humans (bonobo) and basal primates (aye-aye, mouse lemur, galago). Consistent with previous studies, we found the seed region and mature miRNA to be highly conserved across primates, with overall structural conservation of the pre-miRNA hairpin. However, there were a number of interesting exceptions, including a seed shift due to structural changes in miR-501. We also identified an increase in the number of miR-320 paralogs throughout primate evolution. Many of these non-conserved miRNA appear to regulate neuronal processes, illustrating the importance of investigating miRNA to learn more about human evolution. |
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cdfd5c98031840239434cd3264468bac |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-14T14:18:36Z |
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| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| spelling | doaj.art-cdfd5c98031840239434cd3264468bac2025-02-27T05:32:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01126e017659610.1371/journal.pone.0176596Evolution of microRNA in primates.Jey C McCreightSean E SchneiderDamien B WilburnWillie J SwansonMicroRNA play an important role in post-transcriptional regulation of most transcripts in the human genome, but their evolution across the primate lineage is largely uncharacterized. A particular miRNA can have one to thousands of messenger RNA targets, establishing the potential for a small change in sequence or overall miRNA structure to have profound phenotypic effects. However, the majority of non-human primate miRNA is predicted solely by homology to the human genome and lacks experimental validation. In the present study, we sequenced thirteen species representing a wide range of the primate phylogeny. Hundreds of miRNA were validated, and the number of species with experimentally validated miRNA was tripled. These species include a sister taxon to humans (bonobo) and basal primates (aye-aye, mouse lemur, galago). Consistent with previous studies, we found the seed region and mature miRNA to be highly conserved across primates, with overall structural conservation of the pre-miRNA hairpin. However, there were a number of interesting exceptions, including a seed shift due to structural changes in miR-501. We also identified an increase in the number of miR-320 paralogs throughout primate evolution. Many of these non-conserved miRNA appear to regulate neuronal processes, illustrating the importance of investigating miRNA to learn more about human evolution.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176596&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Jey C McCreight Sean E Schneider Damien B Wilburn Willie J Swanson Evolution of microRNA in primates. PLoS ONE |
| title | Evolution of microRNA in primates. |
| title_full | Evolution of microRNA in primates. |
| title_fullStr | Evolution of microRNA in primates. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolution of microRNA in primates. |
| title_short | Evolution of microRNA in primates. |
| title_sort | evolution of microrna in primates |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176596&type=printable |
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