Identification of miRNAs and their potential targets in halophyte plant Thellungiella halophila

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs with important role in gene regulation in various organisms. These RNAs regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. To date, several hundred plant miRNAs have been deposited in the miRBase database. Many of them are conserved during the evolution of terrestrial plants, suggesting that the well-conserved miRNAs may also retain homologous target interactions. So far, there has been no experimental or computational identification of miRNAs and their target genes in Thellungiella halophila. Here, using a computational homology based search approach and according to a series of filtering criteria, a total of 8 miRNAs belonging to 4 miRNA families were detected from the Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) databases. Potential target genes of these predicted miRNAs were subsequently assessed. Our findings showed that among the target genes, most of them encode transcription factors and enzymes that participate in regulation of development, growth and other physiological processes.