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. 2017 Feb 21;1(3):27.
doi: 10.1038/s41559-016-0027.

The evolutionary origin of plant and animal microRNAs

Yehu Moran  1 , Maayan Agron  1 , Daniela Praher  2 , Ulrich Technau  2
Affiliations

The evolutionary origin of plant and animal microRNAs

Yehu Moran et al. Nat Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

microRNAs (miRNAs) are a unique class of short endogenous RNAs that became known in the last few decades as major players in gene regulation at the post-transcriptional level. Their regulatory roles make miRNAs crucial for normal development and physiology in several distinct groups of eukaryotes including plants and animals. The common notion in the field is that miRNAs have evolved independently in those distinct lineages, but recent evidence from non-bilaterian metazoans, plants, as well as various algae raise the possibility that already the last common ancestor of these lineages might have employed a miRNA pathway for post-transcriptional regulation. In this review we present the commonalities and differences of the miRNA pathways in various eukaryotes and discuss the contrasting scenarios of their possible evolutionary origin and their proposed link to organismal complexity and multicellularity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing financial interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differences between miRNAs and siRNAs. a, A scheme of miRNA and siRNA precursors and duplexes. While miRNAs are usually produced from short hairpins carrying mismatches in their stem region, siRNAs are produced from long hairpins with stems of perfect complementarity. miRNA precursors usually give rise to a single duplex whereas siRNA precursors are a source for multiple duplexes. b, Small RNA profiles along a pre-miRNA sequence, here exemplified by miR-2024a of Nematostella vectensis. Note the homogenous product with the dominant guide strand (mature miRNA) and the neglectable passenger strand (miRNA*). c, Small RNA profiles along an siRNA precursor sequence, here exemplified by miR-2024c of N. vectensis. This siRNA locus was originally annotated as miRNA, but later determined to be an siRNA due to the fact it gives rise to multiple small RNAs . The x-axis in b) and c) indicates the position along the hairpin sequence with paired (brackets) and unpaired nucleotides (dots). ppm = parts per million. (b and c) modified from , with permission.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic tree of the major eukaryotic groups showing presence of miRNA systems. Groups known to possess miRNAs are depicted in bold. Numbers in red count from top to bottom the maximum number of times miRNA systems evolved convergently. The phylogeny is based on .
Figure 3
Figure 3
A scheme describing the plant and animal canonical miRNA biogenesis pathways. Homologs carrying similar functions such as Ars2 of animals and Serrate of plants are represented in the same color. This figure is modified after with permission.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic comparison of miRNA network topology in land plants and bilaterian animals. Solid lines represent inhibition of targets by miRNA either by seed match (bilaterian animals) or by nearly-full complementarity (land plants). Dotted lines represent reciprocal effect of targets on miRNAs.
Figure 5
Figure 5
A possible scenario of miRNA evolution in plants and animals where their last common ancestor possessed a miRNA system. Appearances and losses of proteins and traits are depicted on the relevant branches.
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