title: Identification of novel and conserved microRNAs in Coffea canephora and Coffea arabica.
abstract: As microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of many biological processes, a series of small RNAomes from plants have been produced in the last decade. However, miRNA data from several groups of plants are still lacking, including some economically important crops. Here microRNAs from Coffea canephora leaves were profiled and 58 unique sequences belonging to 33 families were found, including two novel microRNAs that have never been described before in plants. Some of the microRNA sequences were also identified in Coffea arabica that, together with C. canephora, correspond to the two major sources of coffee production in the world. The targets of almost all miRNAs were also predicted on coffee expressed sequences. This is the first report of novel miRNAs in the genus Coffea, and also the first in the plant order Gentianales. The data obtained establishes the basis for the understanding of the complex miRNA-target network on those two important crops.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica , Petrópolis, RJ , Brazil .
authors.forename: Guilherme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Loss-Morais
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética , Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro, RJ , Brazil . ; Programa de Biotecnologia Vegetal , Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro, RJ , Brazil .
authors.forename: Daniela C R
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biofísica , Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Sul , Porto Alegre, RS , Brazil .
authors.forename: Rogério
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Margis
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética , Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro, RJ , Brazil . ; Programa de Biotecnologia Vegetal , Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro, RJ , Brazil .
authors.forename: Márcio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alves-Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética , Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro, RJ , Brazil .
authors.forename: Régis L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Corrêa
keywords: coffee; illumina sequencing; microRNA profiling