Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved, non-coding, 20–24 nucleotides long RNA molecules that play important regulatory roles in plants and animals. Due to several limitations involved in the experimental validation of potent miRNAs, in silico prediction of miRNAs and their target(s) from various organisms have been successfully employed. Cranberries are one of the healthiest fruits due to their high nutrient and antioxidant contents. In this study applying genome-wide computational-based approaches and following a set of strict filtering criteria a total of 23 potentially conserved microRNAs belonging to 15 families were identified from cranberry. All the precursors of identified miRNAs formed stable minimum free energy (MFE) stem-loop structure as their orthologues form and possessed high minimum free energy index (MFEI) values. psRNATarget tool detected a total of 92 potential miRNA targets including binding proteins, transcription factors, kinases that are involved in biosyntheses, different metabolic processes, and signal transduction. Among the detected targets, 9 targets (SPLs, proline-rich family proteins, F-Box proteins, HD proteins, Scarecrow proteins, zinc finger proteins, cytochrome P450, sulfate transporters and ABC transporters) were found to have a specific role in phytochemical biosynthesis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of cranberry microRNAs and their targets.

中文翻译：

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蔓越莓（Vaccinium macrocarpon）的microRNA及其靶转录本的计算机表征

摘要

MicroRNA（miRNA）是高度保守的非编码20–24个核苷酸长的RNA分子，在植物和动物中起着重要的调节作用。由于有效的miRNA的实验验证存在一些局限性，因此成功地采用了计算机模拟miRNA及其来自各种生物的靶标。蔓越莓是最健康的水果之一，因为它们的营养成分和抗氧化剂含量高。在这项研究中，应用了基于全基因组的基于计算的方法，并遵循一组严格的过滤标准，从蔓越莓中鉴定出总共15个家族的23个潜在保守的microRNA。鉴定的miRNA的所有前体均形成直系同源物，并形成稳定的最小自由能（MFE）茎环结构，并具有较高的最小自由能指数（MFEI）值。psRNATarget工具检测到总共92个潜在的miRNA目标，包括结合蛋白，转录因子，参与生物合成的激酶，不同的代谢过程和信号转导。在检测到的靶标中，发现9个靶标（SPL，富含脯氨酸的家族蛋白，F-Box蛋白，HD蛋白，稻草人蛋白，锌指蛋白，细胞色素P450，硫酸盐转运蛋白和ABC转运蛋白）在植物化学生物合成中具有特定作用。据我们所知，这是蔓越莓microRNA及其靶标的首次报道。已发现F-Box蛋白，HD蛋白，稻草人蛋白，锌指蛋白，细胞色素P450，硫酸盐转运蛋白和ABC转运蛋白在植物化学生物合成中具有特定作用。据我们所知，这是蔓越莓microRNA及其靶标的首次报道。已发现F-Box蛋白，HD蛋白，稻草人蛋白，锌指蛋白，细胞色素P450，硫酸盐转运蛋白和ABC转运蛋白在植物化学生物合成中具有特定作用。据我们所知，这是蔓越莓microRNA及其靶标的首次报道。