title: Phylogenetic analysis reveals conservation and diversification of micro RNA166 genes among diverse plant species.
abstract: Similar to the majority of the microRNAs, mature miR166s are derived from multiple members of MIR166 genes (precursors) and regulate various aspects of plant development by negatively regulating their target genes (Class III HD-ZIP). The evolutionary conservation or functional diversification of miRNA166 family members remains elusive. Here, we show the phylogenetic relationships among MIR166 precursor and mature sequences from three diverse model plant species. Despite strong conservation, some mature miR166 sequences, such as ppt-miR166m, have undergone sequence variation. Critical sequence variation in ppt-miR166m has led to functional diversification, as it targets non-HD-ZIPIII gene transcript (s). MIR166 precursor sequences have diverged in a lineage specific manner, and both precursors and mature osa-miR166i/j are highly conserved. Interestingly, polycistronic MIR166s were present in Physcomitrella and Oryza but not in Arabidopsis. The nature of cis-regulatory motifs on the upstream promoter sequences of MIR166 genes indicates their possible contribution to the functional variation observed among miR166 species.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Suvakanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barik
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Shabari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: SarkarDas
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Archita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Vibhav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gautam
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Pramod
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Majee
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: aksarkar@nipgr.ac.in.
authors.forename: Ananda K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sarkar
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D019068:Bryopsida / Q000235:genetics; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; C580969:MIRN166 microRNA, Arabidopsis; D035683:MicroRNAs; D018749:RNA, Plant
keywords: Evolution; Genome; MicroRNA; Plants; miR166