title: CpG Islands as a putative source for animal miRNAs: evolutionary and functional implications.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRs) are considered major contributors to the evolution of animal morphological complexity. Multiple bursts of novel miR families were documented throughout animal evolution, yet, their evolutionary origins are not understood. Here, we discuss two alternative genomic sources for novel miR families, namely, transposable elements, which were previously described, and a newly proposed origin: CpG islands. We show that these two origins are evolutionarily distinct and that they correspond to marked differences in several functional and genomic characteristics. Together, our results shed light on the intriguing origin of one of the major constituents of regulatory networks in animals, miRs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Dvir
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dahary
authors.forename: Reut
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shalgi
authors.forename: Yitzhak
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pilpel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018899:CpG Islands; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009928:Organ Specificity; D016012:Poisson Distribution
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D035683:MicroRNAs