Mirtron

Mirtrons are a type of microRNAs that are located in the introns of the mRNA encoding host genes. Mirtrons arise from the spliced-out introns and are known to function in gene expression.

Mirtrons were first identified in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans.[1][2] The number of mirtrons identified to date are 14, 9, and 19 in D. melanogaster, C. elegans and mammals respectively.[3]

Now more evidence is emerging that supports the existence of mirtrons in plants. All the miRNAs in plants are derived from the sequential DCL1 cleavages from pri-miRNA to give pre-miRNA (or miRNA precursor), but the mirtrons bypass the DCL1 cleavage and enter as pre-miRNA in the miRNA maturation pathway.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Ruby, JG; Jan, CH; Bartel, DP (Jul 5, 2007). "Intronic microRNA precursors that bypass Drosha processing". Nature 448 (7149): 83–6. doi:10.1038/nature05983. PMC 2475599. PMID 17589500.
  2. ↑ Jan, CH; Ruby, JG; Friedman, R; Bartel, DP (Jan 6, 2011). "Formation, regulation and evolution of Caenorhabditis elegans 3′UTRs". Nature 469 (7328): 97–101. doi:10.1038/nature09616. PMC 3057491. PMID 21085120.
  3. 1 2 Zhu, Q.-H.; Spriggs, A.; Matthew, L.; Fan, L.; Kennedy, G.; Gubler, F.; Helliwell, C. (30 July 2008). "A diverse set of microRNAs and microRNA-like small RNAs in developing rice grains". Genome Research 18 (9): 1456–1465. doi:10.1101/gr.075572.107. PMC 2527712. PMID 18687877.


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