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. 2007 Dec;3(12):e215.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.0030215.

Most Caenorhabditis elegans microRNAs are individually not essential for development or viability

Eric A Miska  1 , Ezequiel Alvarez-Saavedra, Allison L Abbott, Nelson C Lau, Andrew B Hellman, Shannon M McGonagle, David P Bartel, Victor R Ambros, H Robert Horvitz
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Most Caenorhabditis elegans microRNAs are individually not essential for development or viability

Eric A Miska et al. PLoS Genet. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a large class of short noncoding RNAs found in many plants and animals, often act to post-transcriptionally inhibit gene expression. We report the generation of deletion mutations in 87 miRNA genes in Caenorhabditis elegans, expanding the number of mutated miRNA genes to 95, or 83% of known C. elegans miRNAs. We find that the majority of miRNAs are not essential for the viability or development of C. elegans, and mutations in most miRNA genes do not result in grossly abnormal phenotypes. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that there is significant functional redundancy among miRNAs or among gene pathways regulated by miRNAs. This study represents the first comprehensive genetic analysis of miRNA function in any organism and provides a unique, permanent resource for the systematic study of miRNAs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests. The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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