Expansion of ruminant-specific microRNAs shapes target gene expression divergence between ruminant and non-ruminant species.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Understanding how species-specific microRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to species-specific phenotypes is a central topic in biology. This study aimed to elucidate the role of ruminant-specific miRNAs in shaping mRNA expression divergence between ruminant and non-ruminant species.

Results

We analyzed miRNA and mRNA transcriptomes generated by Illumina sequencing from whole blood samples of cattle and a closely related non-ruminant species, pig. We found evidence of expansion of cattle-specific miRNAs by analyzing miRNA conservation among 57 vertebrate species. The emergence of cattle-specific miRNAs was accompanied by accelerated sequence evolution at their target sites. Further, the target genes of cattle-specific miRNAs show markedly reduced expression compared to thei

SUBMITTER: Bao H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3847189 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature