Micro-messengers of evolution
January 11, 2011 in NEWS by Suzanne Elvidge
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short strands of RNA. They are around 22 nucleotides long and bind to messenger RNA (mRNA), regulating gene expression, often through silencing or repression. Their misregulation has been implicated in disease, and now it appears that they may also be involved in evolution.
A study of cichlids from Lake Malawi suggests that divergent selection on miRNA riboregulation may have increased the diversification of cichlid species. This, with human genomic surveys showing reduced genetic polymorphism and negative selection for miRNAs, suggests that miRNA may play a role in evolution.
More on miRNA – in the pig brain, miRNA appears to have a role in the regulation of brain development, supporting the idea that these act as post-transcriptional switches.
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