miRNA profiling

To be published in the June 1 issue of G&D, Dr. Thomas Tuschl and colleagues describe the most comprehensive profile to date of microRNA (miRNA) expression during zebrafish development. The authors cloned 154 distinct miRNAs (10 of which are completely novel) in a developmental and tissue-specific manner. They also identified – for the first time ever in a vertebrate – a new class of small RNAs, called repeat-associated small interfering RNAs. Because of the importance of zebrafish as a vertebrate model organism, this analysis provides an important starting point for dissecting of function and evolution of small RNAs and their targets.

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