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Identification of MicroRNA Genes and their mRNA Targets in Festuca arundinacea

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Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as a novel class of endogenous, small, non-coding RNAs of 22 nucleotides (nts) in length, which plays important roles in post-transcriptional degradation of target mRNA or inhibition of protein synthesis through binding the specific sites of target mRNA. Growing evidences have shown that miRNAs play an important role in various biological processes, including growth and development, signal transduction, apoptosis, proliferation, stress responses, maintenance of genome stability, and so on. In our study, we used bioinformatic tools to predict miRNA and the corresponding target genes of Festuca arundinacea. We used known miRNAs of other plants from miRBase to search against expressed sequence tags (EST) databases and genome survey sequences (GSS) of F. arundinacea. A total of 8 potential miRNAs were predicted. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted miRNAs revealed that miRNA398c of F. arundinacea species was evolutionary highly conserved with Populus trichocarpa. The 8 potential miRNAs corresponding to 20 target genes were found. Most of the miRNA target genes were predicted to encode transcription factors that regulate cell growth and development, signaling, metabolism, and other biology processes. By bioinformatics methods, we can effectively predict novel miRNAs and its target genes and add information to F. arundinacea miRNA database. Moreover, it shows a path for the prediction and analysis of miRNAs to those species whose genomes are not available through bioinformatics tools.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31302013, 61370010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Science and Technology College, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang City, 471003, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Xi Hong Sun, Ling Ping Zhao & Zhan Bin Wang

  2. School of Information Science and Technology of Xiamen University, Xiamen City, 361005, Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China

    Quan Zou

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  1. Xi Hong Sun
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Correspondence to Zhan Bin Wang.

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Sun, X.H., Zhao, L.P., Zou, Q. et al. Identification of MicroRNA Genes and their mRNA Targets in Festuca arundinacea . Appl Biochem Biotechnol 172, 3875–3887 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-0805-6

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