Genomic Analysis of MicroRNA Promoters and Their Cis-Acting Elements in Soybean  

作　　者：LIU Yong-xin HAN Ying-peng CHANG Wei ZOU Quan GUO Mao-zu LI Wen-bin 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology, Ministry of Education~Soybean Research Institute, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R.China [2]School of lnformation Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P.R.China [3]Department of Computer Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, P.R.China

出　　处：《Agricultural Sciences in China》2010年第11期1561-1570,共10页中国农业科学（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National High-Tech R&D Program of China (863 Program,2006AA100104-4);the Project of 948 from Ministryof Agriculture of China (2006-G5);the National Nature Science Foundation of China (30971810,60932008);the National Basic Research Program ofChina (973 Program, 2009CB118400);the Postdoctoral Fund in Heilongjiang Province, China (LBH-Z07228);the Foundation Projects of Northeast Agricultural University, China;the Technology Project of Education Ministry of Heilongjiang Province, China(11541025);the Technology Project of Harbin,China (2009RFQXN085)

摘　　要：MicroRNAs （miRNAs） are derived from distinct loci in the genome and play crucial roles in RNA-mediated gene silencing mechanisms that regulate cellular processes during development and stress responses of plants. The miRNAs are approximately 21 nucleotides long and code for the complementary strand to a larger genic mRNA. They are often found within the complementary primary transcript （pri-miRNAs）. In the past few years, a growing number of soybean miRNAs have been discovered, however, little is known about the transcriptional regulation of these miRNAs. In this study, promoters and cis-acting elements of soybean miRNAs were analyzed using the genomic data for the first time. A total of 82 miRNAs were located among 122 loci in genome, some were present as double or multiple copies. Five clusters that included ten miRNAs were found in genome, and only one cluster share the same promoter. A total of 191 promoters from 122 loci of the soybean miRNA sequences were found and further analyzed. The results indicated that the conserved soybean miRNA genes had a greater proportion of promoters than that of non-conserved ones, and the distribution of the transcript start sites （TSSs） and TATA-boxes found had different motif styles between conserved and non-conserved miRNA genes. Furthermore, the cis-acting elements 5＇ of the TSSs were analyzed to obtain potential function and spatiotemporal expression pattern of miRNAs. The data obtained here may lead to the identification of specific sequences upstream of pre-miRNAs and the functional annotation of miRNAs in soybean.MicroRNAs （miRNAs） are derived from distinct loci in the genome and play crucial roles in RNA-mediated gene silencing mechanisms that regulate cellular processes during development and stress responses of plants. The miRNAs are approximately 21 nucleotides long and code for the complementary strand to a larger genic mRNA. They are often found within the complementary primary transcript （pri-miRNAs）. In the past few years, a growing number of soybean miRNAs have been discovered, however, little is known about the transcriptional regulation of these miRNAs. In this study, promoters and cis-acting elements of soybean miRNAs were analyzed using the genomic data for the first time. A total of 82 miRNAs were located among 122 loci in genome, some were present as double or multiple copies. Five clusters that included ten miRNAs were found in genome, and only one cluster share the same promoter. A total of 191 promoters from 122 loci of the soybean miRNA sequences were found and further analyzed. The results indicated that the conserved soybean miRNA genes had a greater proportion of promoters than that of non-conserved ones, and the distribution of the transcript start sites （TSSs） and TATA-boxes found had different motif styles between conserved and non-conserved miRNA genes. Furthermore, the cis-acting elements 5＇ of the TSSs were analyzed to obtain potential function and spatiotemporal expression pattern of miRNAs. The data obtained here may lead to the identification of specific sequences upstream of pre-miRNAs and the functional annotation of miRNAs in soybean.

关 键 词：MIRNAS SOYBEAN PROMOTER cis-acting elements miRNA clusters 

分 类 号：Q78[生物学—分子生物学] Q756