Abstract

In Caenorhabditis elegans , lin-4 and let-7 encode 22- and 21-nucleotide (nt) RNAs, respectively, which function as key regulators of developmental timing. Because the appearance of these short RNAs is regulated during development, they are also referred to as small temporal RNAs (stRNAs). We show that many 21- and 22-nt expressed RNAs, termed microRNAs, exist in invertebrates and vertebrates and that some of these novel RNAs, similar to let-7 stRNA, are highly conserved. This suggests that sequence-specific, posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms mediated by small RNAs are more general than previously appreciated.

Keywords

Caenorhabditis elegansBiologySmall nucleolar RNAGenemicroRNALong non-coding RNAENCODEGeneticsFunction (biology)Computational biologyRNAConserved sequenceBase sequence

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Publication Info

Year
2001
Type
article
Volume
294
Issue
5543
Pages
853-858
Citations
4893
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Mariana Lagos‐Quintana, Reinhard Rauhut, Winfried Lendeckel et al. (2001). Identification of Novel Genes Coding for Small Expressed RNAs. Science , 294 (5543) , 853-858. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1064921

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DOI
10.1126/science.1064921