title: Novel microRNAs (miRNAs) encoded by herpesvirus of Turkeys: evidence of miRNA evolution by duplication.
abstract: Herpesviruses account for 134 out of the 140 virus-encoded microRNAs (miRNAs) known today. Here we report the identification of 11 novel miRNAs encoded by herpesvirus of turkey (HVT), a virus used as a live vaccine in poultry against the highly oncogenic Marek's disease virus type 1. Ten of these miRNAs were clustered together within the repeat long region of the viral genome, demonstrating some degree of positional conservation with other mardiviruses. Close sequence and phylogenetic relationships of some miRNAs in this cluster indicate evolution by duplication. HVT miRNAs represent the first example of virus-encoded miRNAs that show evolution by duplication.
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Institute for Animal Health, Compton, Berkshire RG20 7NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Yongxiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Yuguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Lorraine P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Venugopal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nair
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D026002:Herpesvirus 1, Meleagrid / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D014422:Turkeys / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012367:RNA, Viral