Zhe Qu, Wing Chung Yiu, Ho Yin Yip, Wenyan Nong, Clare W C Yu, Ivy H T Lee, Annette Y P Wong, Nicola W Y Wong, Fiona K M Cheung, Ting Fung Chan, Kwok Fai Lau, Silin Zhong, Ka Hou Chu, Stephen S Tobe, David E K Ferrier, William G Bendena, Jerome H L Hui
A striking feature of microRNAs is that they are often clustered in the genomes of animals. The functional and evolutionary consequences of this clustering remain obscure. Here, we investigated a microRNA cluster miR-6/5/4/286/3/309 that is conserved across drosophilid lineages. Small RNA sequencing revealed expression of this microRNA cluster in Drosophila melanogaster leg discs, and conditional overexpression of the whole cluster resulted in leg appendage shortening. Transgenic overexpression lines expressing different combinations of microRNA cluster members were also constructed...
June 10, 2020: Molecular Biology and Evolution