A renaissance of microRNAs as taxonomic and phylogenetic markers in animals

Molecular markers for tracing animal sample origins and compositions are critical for applications such as parasite detection, contamination screening, and sample authentication. Among these, microRNAs have emerged as promising candidates due to their deep conservation, near‐hierarchical evolution,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inZoologica scripta Vol. 53; no. 6; pp. 754 - 762
Main Author Fromm, Bastian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oslo Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2024
Subjects
Annotations
Biomarkers
Evolutionary conservation
Metazoa
microRNAs
miRNA
Parasites
phylogenetic markers
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Regeneration
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
taxonomic markers
Taxonomy
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Molecular markers for tracing animal sample origins and compositions are critical for applications such as parasite detection, contamination screening, and sample authentication. Among these, microRNAs have emerged as promising candidates due to their deep conservation, near‐hierarchical evolution, and stability. I here review the suitability of microRNAs as taxonomic and also phylogenetic markers and show how careful annotation efforts and the establishment of the curated microRNA gene database MirGeneDB and tools like MirMachine have revitalized microRNA research. These advancements enable accurate phylogenetic and taxonomic studies, highlighting microRNAs' potential in resolving long‐standing questions in animal relationships and extending to applications in ancient DNA and environmental RNA analysis. Future research must focus on expanding microRNA complements across all Metazoa and further improving annotation methodologies.
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ISSN:0300-3256
1463-6409
DOI:10.1111/zsc.12684