The evolution and functional diversification of animal microRNA genes

microRNAs （miRNAs） are an abundant class of-22 nucleotide （nt） regulatory RNAs that are pervasive in higher eukaryotic genomes. In order to fully understand their prominence in genomes, it is necessary to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that can diversify miRNA activities. In this review, we describe some of the many strategies that allow novel miRNA functions to emerge, with particular emphasis on how miRNA genes evolve in animals. These mechanisms include changes in their sequence, processing, or expression pattern; acquisition of miRNA^＊ functionality or antisense processing; and de novo gene birth. The facility and versatility of miRNAs to evolve and change likely underlies how they have become dominant constituents of higher genomes.     

The impact of age,biogenesis, and genomic clustering on Drosophila microRNA evolution

The molecular evolutionary signatures of miRNAs inform our understanding of their emergence, biogenesis, and function. The known signatures of miRNA evolution have derived mostly from the analysis of deeply conserved, canonical loci. In this study, we examine the impact of age, biogenesis pathway, and genomic arrangement on the evolutionary properties of Drosophila miRNAs. Crucial to the accuracy of our results was our curation of high-quality miRNA alignments, which included nearly 150 corrections to ortholog calls and nucleotide sequences of the global 12-way Drosophilid alignments currently available. Using these data, we studied primary sequence conservation, normalized free-energy values, and types of structure-preserving substitutions. We expand upon common miRNA evolutionary patterns that reflect fundamental features of miRNAs that are under functional selection. We observe that melanogaster-subgroup-specific miRNAs, although recently emerged and rapidly evolving, nonetheless exhibit evolutionary signatures that are similar to well-conserved miRNAs and distinct from other structured noncoding RNAs and bulk conserved non-miRNA hairpins. This provides evidence that even young miRNAs may be selected for regulatory activities. More strikingly, we observe that mirtrons and clustered miRNAs both exhibit distinct evolutionary properties relative to solo, well-conserved miRNAs, even after controlling for sequence depth. These studies highlight the previously unappreciated impact of biogenesis strategy and genomic location on the evolutionary dynamics of miRNAs, and affirm that miRNAs do not evolve as a unitary class.     

Molecular evolution of a primate-specific microRNA family

Lineage-specific microRNA (miRNA) families may contribute to developmental novelties during evolution. However, little is known about the origin and evolution of new miRNA families. We report evidence of an Alu-mediated rapid expansion of miRNA genes in a previously identified primate-specific miRNA family, drawn from sequencing and comparative analysis of 9 diverse primate species. Evolutionary analysis reveals similar divergence among miRNA copies whether they are within or between species, lineage-specific gain and loss of miRNAs, and gene pseudolization in multiple species. These observations support a birth-and-death process of miRNA genes in this family, implicating functional diversification during primate evolution. In addition, both secondary structure conservation and reduced single nucleotide polymorphisms density attest to functional constraint of this family in primates. Finally, we observed preferential expression of miRNAs in human placenta and fetal brain, suggesting a functional importance of this family for primate development.     

No more than 14: the end of the amphioxus Hox cluster

The Hox gene cluster has been a key paradigm for a generation of developmental and evolutionary biologists. Since its discovery in the mid-1980's, the identification, genomic organization, expression, colinearity, and regulation of Hox genes have been immediate targets for study in any new model organism, and metazoan genome projects always refer to the structure of the particular Hox cluster(s). Since the early 1990's, it has been dogma that vertebrate Hox clusters are composed of thirteen paralogous groups. Nonetheless, we showed that in the otherwise prototypical cephalochordate amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae), the Hox cluster contains a fourteenth Hox gene, and very recently, a 14(th) Hox paralogous group has been found in the coelacanth and the horn shark, suggesting that the amphioxus cluster was anticipating the finding of Hox 14 in some vertebrate lineages. In view of the pivotal place that amphioxus occupies in vertebrate evolution, we thought it of considerable interest to establish the limits of its Hox gene cluster, namely resolution of whether more Hox genes are present in the amphioxus cluster (e.g., Hox 15). Using two strategies, here we report the completion and characterization of the Hox gene content of the single amphioxus Hox cluster, which encompasses 650 kb from Hox1 to Evx. Our data have important implications for the primordial Hox gene cluster of chordates: the prototypical nature of the single amphioxus Hox cluster makes it unlikely that additional paralogous groups will be found in any chordate lineage. We suggest that 14 is the end.     

文昌鱼—研究脊柱动物起源和进化的模式动物

长久以来,文昌鱼一直被认为和生活在约5亿年前的脊椎动物的直接祖先相似。由于文昌鱼在进化上的重要性,它在动物学研究史上发挥着关键作用,近100多年来,文昌鱼作为研究对象曾数次受到动物学界青睐或冷落,大约10年前,随着分子生物学技术应用于文昌鱼研究,又激发了动物学家对文昌鱼的研究兴趣,又一次出现在文昌鱼研究的高潮,并且一直持续至今,分子生物学研究结果表明,文昌鱼样生物可能是环节动物样动物和最早的脊椎动物之间的进化中间体,因此,文昌鱼在动物学研究史上好像绕了个大圈又回到了原处,在被忽视一段时间之后,又重新占据脊椎动物起源和进化研究中心舞台的位置,成为研究脊椎动物起源和进化的模式动物。     

小分子RNA

小分子RNA(miRNA)是继siRNA之后发现的调节mRNA稳定和mRNA翻译并普遍存在于动植物体内的一类内源非编码RNA。这类非编码RNAs长约22 nt,在动植物的基因调控中起着重要的作用。它是近几年生命科学研究的热点之一。在2002年,miRNA被Science杂志评为十大科技突破之一。     

Molecular Basis for the Single-Nucleotide Precision of Primary microRNA Processing

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小立碗藓（Physcomitrella patens）植物microRNA结合靶位预测

利用857条植物miRNA序列对27546条小立碗藓mRNA序列进行搜索,预测出162个植物miRNA家族在小立碗藓中存在结合靶位。miRNA结合靶位数目和miRNA协同作用网络分析结果同时显示,miR482和miR1168在小立碗藓中结合靶位多、协同作用广,提示它们对于小立碗藓可能具有重要生物学功能。52个菜茵衣藻特有的miRNA被预测在小立碗藓中存在结合靶位,显示小立碗藓在从藻类向种子植物进化过程中处在独特演化位置。     

Molecular evolution of the HBII-52 snoRNA cluster

HBII-52 is a human brain-specific C/D box snoRNA that potentially regulates the editing and/or alternative splicing of the serotonin receptor. Forty-two nearly identical copies of the HBII-52 gene are located immediately downstream of the SNRPN protein-coding gene in an imprinted locus associated with Prader-Willi syndrome. Other eutherian mammals, with genomic assemblies covering the corresponding locus, also have multiple orthologous copies of HBII-52. The SNRPB gene, which is known to have given rise to SNRPN through gene duplication, expresses a C/D box snoRNA, SNORD119, from its fifth intron. Here we show that, despite the fact that they lie in different positions relative to the orthologous SNRPB/SNRPN coding sequences, there are significant sequence similarities between SNORD119 and HBII-52, including the antisense element and the stem-forming regions. By analysing these snoRNAs in marsupial and eutherian mammal genomes, we reconstruct the likely evolutionary history of the HBII-52 cluster and SNORD119 and suggest that they have evolved from a common ancestor.     

Molecular evolution of interleukin-3

Chimpanzee, tamarin, and marmoset interleukin-3 (IL-3) genes were cloned, sequenced, and expressed. Western blot analysis demonstrated that functional genes were isolated. IL-3 sequences were compared with those of mouse, rat, rhesus monkey, gibbon, and man. Multiple alignment of the IL-3 coding regions showed that only a few regions had been conserved during mammalian evolution, which are likely associated with functional domains of the IL-3 protein. Substitution rates for the various lineages were calculated and the numbers of synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions were estimated separately. Distance matrices of the IL-3 coding regions were used to construct phylogenetic trees which revealed large differences in IL-3 evolution rate as well as a more rapid substitution rate for rodents and a rate slowdown during hominoid evolution. Extremes were rhesus monkey IL-3, which accumulated few synonymous substitutions, and gibbon IL-3, which had almost exclusively synonymous substitutions. In rhesus monkey IL-3, nonsynonymous substitutions outnumbered synonymous substitutions, which could not be readily explained by a random process of substitutions. We assume that during evolution of IL-3, the majority of the amino acid replacements and the impaired interspecies functional cross-reactivity originate from selection mechanisms with the most likely selective force being the structure of the heterodimeric IL-3 cell-surface receptor. Insight into IL-3 architecture and structural analysis of the IL-3 receptor are needed to analyze the unusually fast evolution of IL-3 in more detail.     

用于鉴定microRNA靶基因的新型双萤光素酶报告基因系统的构建及应用

目的:构建用于鉴定microRNA靶基因的报告基因系统。方法:在pGL3-Basic载体的luc基因上游插入CMV启动子,下游插入用于克隆靶基因3’UTR的多克隆位点,构建报告基因载体pMIR-luciferase;将pMIR-lu-ciferase载体的luc基因替换成Rluc基因,构建内参载体pMIR-control;将补体因子H(CFH)的3’UTR插入pMIR-luciferase载体的多克隆位点处,构建含有CFH 3’UTR的报告基因载体;用pIRES2-EGFP载体构建microRNA146a真核表达载体;将含有CFH 3’UTR的报告基因载体、microRNA146a真核表达载体及内参载体共转染HepG2细胞,进行报告基因的活性检测。结果:构建了报告基因载体、内参载体和microRNA146a真核表达载体,经酶切和测序鉴定正确;microRNA146a真核表达载体转染细胞72 h后,经荧光显微镜观察确认载体转染及表达;用实时定量PCR检测,microRNA146a的表达水平显著上调(P<0.01);用构建的报告基因系统检测,结果表明microRNA146a显著地抑制了含CFH 3’UTR的报告基因的活性(P<0.05)。结论:构建了一种新型的报告基因载体系统,该系统可用于miRNA靶基因的鉴定。     

微小RNA分析技术研究进展

微小RNA（miRNA）是一类起重要调控作用的非编码小分子RNA。准确分析组织或细胞中miRNA的表达水平是研究其生物学功能的基础。近年,研究者开发出多种方法检测不同生理、病理过程中miRNA的差异表达,发现miRNA的异常表达与癌症等多种疾病密切相关。目前,miRNA已逐渐成为重要的疾病诊断生物标志物乃至治疗靶点。miRNA的分析技术贯穿miRNA的研究和药物研发过程,并起到关键作用。我们针对miRNA的不同研究阶段所采用的定性和定量分析方法,着重阐述了用于初始miRNA研究的克隆测序类技术、分析miRNA表达谱的高通量芯片技术、研究具体目标miRNA及其前体表达的qPCR和改良Northern印迹技术,以及将修饰后miRNA作为药物的药代动力学评价技术。     

Functional parameters of Dicer-independent microRNA biogenesis

Until recently, a Dicer-class RNase III enzyme was believed to be essential for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis in all animals. The conserved vertebrate locus mir-451 defies this expectation and instead matures by direct cleavage of its pre-miRNA hairpin via the Slicer activity of Argonaute2 (Ago2). In this study, we used structure-function analysis to define the functional parameters of Ago2-mediated miRNA biogenesis. These include (1) the requirement for base-pairing at most, but not all, positions within the pre-mir-451 stem; (2) surprisingly little influence of the 5'-nucleotide on Ago sorting; (3) substantial influence of Ago protein stoichiometry on mir-451 maturation; (4) strong influence of G:C content in the distal stem on 3' resection of cleaved mir-451 substrates; and (5) the influence of hairpin length on substrate utilization by Ago2 and Dicer. Unexpectedly, we find that certain hairpin lengths confer competence to mature via both Dicer-mediated and Ago2-mediated pathways, and we show, in fact, that a conventional shRNA can traverse the Dicer-independent pathway. Altogether, these data inform the design of effective Dicer-independent substrates for gene silencing and reveal novel aspects of substrate handling by Ago proteins.     

Molecular evolution in bacteria

Recent advances in microbiology and molecular biology have a unifying influence on our understanding of genetic diversity/similarity and evolutionary relationships in microorganisms. This article attempts to unify information from diverse areas such as microbiology, molecular biology, microbial physiology, clay crystal genes, metals-microbe-clay interactions and bacterial DNA restriction-modification systems (R-M) as they may apply to molecular evolution of bacteria. The possibility is discussed that the first informational molecules may have been catalytic RNA (micro-assembler) not DNA (now the master copy) and these first micro-assemblers may have been precursors of ribosomes.