Vilmos, P., Bujna, A., Szuperák, M., Havelda, Z., Várallyay, E., Szabad, J., Kucerova, L., Somogyi, K., Kristó, I., Lukácsovich, T., Jankovics, F., Henn, L., Erdélyi, M. (2013). Viability, Longevity, and Egg Production of Drosophila melanogaster Are Regulated by the miR-282 microRNA.  Genetics 195(2): 469--480.

FBrf0222900

Research paper

The first microRNAs were discovered some 20 years ago, but only a small fraction of the microRNA-encoding genes have been described in detail yet. Here we report the molecular analysis of a computationally predicted Drosophila melanogaster microRNA gene, mir-282. We show that the mir-282 gene is the source of a 4.9-kb-long primary transcript with a 5' cap and a 3'-poly(A) sequence and a mature microRNA of ∼25 bp. Our data strongly suggest the existence of an independent mir-282 gene conserved in holometabolic insects. We give evidence that the mir-282 locus encodes a functional transcript that influences viability, longevity, and egg production in Drosophila. We identify the nervous system-specific adenylate cyclase (rutabaga) as a target of miR-282 and assume that one of the main functions of mir-282 is the regulation of adenylate cyclase activity in the nervous system during metamorphosis.

PMC3781974 (PMC) (EuropePMC)