Drosophila microRNAs exhibit diverse spatial expression patterns during embryonic development

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an extensive class of regulatory RNA whose specific functions in animals are generally unknown. Although computational methods have identified many potential targets of miRNAs, elucidating the spatial expression patterns of miRNAs is necessary to identify the sites of miRNA ac...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 102; no. 50; pp. 18017 - 18022
Main Authors Aboobaker, A.A, Tomancak, P, Patel, N, Rubin, G.M, Lai, E.C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 13.12.2005
National Acad Sciences
Subjects
Animals
Biological Sciences
Drosophila
Drosophila - embryology
Drosophila - genetics
Drosophila melanogaster
embryo (animal)
embryogenesis
Embryonic growth stage
Embryos
Gene expression
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Genetic loci
Genomes
Hindgut
Hybridization
In Situ Hybridization
loci
Mesoderm
MicroRNA
MicroRNAs - genetics
MicroRNAs - metabolism
Nervous system
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
transcription (genetics)
Vertebrates
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Summary:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an extensive class of regulatory RNA whose specific functions in animals are generally unknown. Although computational methods have identified many potential targets of miRNAs, elucidating the spatial expression patterns of miRNAs is necessary to identify the sites of miRNA action. Here, we report the spatial patterns of miRNA transcription during Drosophila embryonic development, as revealed by in situ hybridization to nascent miRNA transcripts. We detect expression of 15 "stand-alone" miRNA loci and 9 intronic miRNA loci, which collectively represent 38 miRNA genes. We observe great variety in the spatial patterns of miRNA transcription, including preblastoderm stripes, in aspects of the central and peripheral nervous systems, and in cellular subsets of the mesoderm and endoderm. We also describe an intronic miRNA (miR-7) whose expression pattern is distinct from that of its host mRNA (bancal), which demonstrates that intronic miRNAs can be subject to independent cis-regulatory control. Intriguingly, the expression patterns of several fly miRNAs are analogous to those of their vertebrate counterparts, suggesting that these miRNAs may have ancient roles in animal patterning.
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Abbreviation: miRNA, microRNA.
Present address: Department of Developmental Biology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Box 252, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021.
Contributed by Gerald M. Rubin, October 7, 2005
To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: gerry@fruitfly.berkeley.edu or laie@mskcc.org.
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
Present address: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.
Author contributions: A.A.A., P.T., and E.C.L. designed research; A.A.A. and E.C.L. performed research; A.A.A. and P.T. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; A.A.A., P.T., N.P., G.M.R., and E.C.L. analyzed data; and E.C.L. wrote the paper.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0508823102