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A Database of microRNA Expression Patterns in Xenopus laevis |
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| Authors: | Ayisha Ahmed Nicole J. Ward Simon Moxon Sara Lopez-Gomollon Camille Viaut Matthew L. Tomlinson Ilya Patrushev Michael J. Gilchrist Tamas Dalmay Dario Dotlic Andrea E. Münsterberg Grant N. Wheeler |
| Affiliation: | 1. School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom.; 2. The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.; 3. The Francis Crick Institute, Mill Hill Laboratory, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London, NW7 1AA, United Kingdom.; The Rockefeller University, UNITED STATES, |
| Abstract: | MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs around 22 nucleotides long. They inhibit gene expression either by translational repression or by causing the degradation of the mRNAs they bind to. Many are highly conserved amongst diverse organisms and have restricted spatio-temporal expression patterns during embryonic development where they are thought to be involved in generating accuracy of developmental timing and in supporting cell fate decisions and tissue identity. We determined the expression patterns of 180 miRNAs in Xenopus laevis embryos using LNA oligonucleotides. In addition we carried out small RNA-seq on different stages of early Xenopus development, identified 44 miRNAs belonging to 29 new families and characterized the expression of 5 of these. Our analyses identified miRNA expression in many organs of the developing embryo. In particular a large number were expressed in neural tissue and in the somites. Surprisingly none of the miRNAs we have looked at show expression in the heart. Our results have been made freely available as a resource in both XenMARK and Xenbase. |
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