Fonseca Paula L C, Mucherino M Jonathan J, Porto Joel A M, Armache Juliana N, de Almeida João Paulo P, da Silva Felipe F, Olmo Roenick P, Faria Isaque J da S, de Carvalho Daniel S, Góes-Neto Aristóteles, Corrêa Ronan X, Pirovani Carlos P, Pacheco Luis G C, Costa Marco Antônio, Aguiar Eric R G R
Department of Microbiology, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais CEP 30270-901, Brazil.
Department of Biological Science (DCB), Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Rodovia Jorge Amado km 16, Ilhéus, Bahia 45662-900, Brazil; Department of Forest Management, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Mérida 5101, Venezuela.
Genomics. 2021 Jul;113(4):2290-2303. doi: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.05.028. Epub 2021 May 25.
Varroa destructor is an ectoparasite mite that attacks bees leading to colony disorders worldwide. microRNAs (miRNAs) are key molecules used by eukaryotes to post-transcriptional control of gene expression. Nevertheless, still lack information aboutV. destructor miRNAs and its regulatory networks. Here, we used an integrative strategy to characterize the miRNAs in the V. destructor mite. We identified 310 precursors that give rise to 500 mature miRNAs, which 257 are likely mite-specific elements. miRNAs showed canonical length ranging between 18 and 25 nucleotides and 5' uracil preference. Top 10 elements concentrated over 80% of total miRNA expression, with bantam alone representing ~50%. We also detected non-templated bases in precursor-derived small RNAs, indicative of miRNA post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. Finally, we note that conserved miRNAs control similar processes in different organisms, suggesting a conservative role. Altogether, our findings contribute to the better understanding of the mite biology that can assist future studies on varroosis control.
狄斯瓦螨是一种外寄生螨，它侵袭蜜蜂，导致全球范围内的蜂群紊乱。微小RNA（miRNA）是真核生物用于基因表达转录后调控的关键分子。然而，关于狄斯瓦螨miRNA及其调控网络的信息仍然匮乏。在此，我们采用综合策略来鉴定狄斯瓦螨中的miRNA。我们鉴定出310个前体，它们产生500个成熟miRNA，其中257个可能是螨特异性元件。miRNA显示出18至25个核苷酸的典型长度以及5'端尿嘧啶偏好。前10个元件集中了超过80%的总miRNA表达，仅bantam就占了约50%。我们还在前体衍生的小RNA中检测到非模板化碱基，这表明了miRNA的转录后调控机制。最后，我们注意到保守的miRNA在不同生物体中控制相似的过程，这表明其具有保守作用。总之，我们的研究结果有助于更好地理解螨的生物学特性，可为未来的蜂螨病防治研究提供帮助。
