Identification and characterization of microRNAs expressed in the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus life stages using high throughput sequencing

Allam, Mushal; Spillings, Belinda L; Abdalla, Hiba; Mapiye, Darlington; Koekemoer, Lizette L.; Christoffels, Alan

doi:10.1186/s12936-016-1591-0

Cited by 12 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…Annotation of the sRNAs in the four libraries indicated that the most abundant class of sRNAs in the eggs, larvae, pupae and adult females’ libraries was miRNAs, rRNAs (larvae and pupae) and tRNAs respectively. This result is consistent with previous research in Anopheles funestus [ 37 ], indicating that protein synthesis during development is of great importance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Novel miRNAs found in this study are not conserved in the Anopheles genus, and we cannot find homologs in other insect species by searching the miRBase, suggesting that these might be species-specific miRNAs. However, the predicted novel miRNAs exhibited much lower expression levels when compared with conserved miRNAs, which is also consistent with previous reports [ 9 , 37 ]. Previously, Dritsou and his colleagues [ 6 ] computationally predicted 115 miRNAs (after removing 33 duplicates and 11 putatively new miRNA, 71 left) in An.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…afu - miR - 8 was the dominant miRNA in the unfed adult An. funestus females [ 37 ]. In addition, miR-1, miR-184, and miR-263 ranked among the most highly expressed miRNAs in both Ae.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization and potential role of microRNA in the Chinese dominant malaria mosquito Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae) throughout four different life stages

Feng¹,

Wu²,

Zhou³

et al. 2018

Cell Biosci

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BackgroundmicroRNAs (miRNAs) are one kind of small non-coding RNAs widely distributed in insects. Many studies have shown that miRNAs play critical roles in development, differentiation, apoptosis, and innate immunity. However, there are a few reports describing miRNAs in Anopheles sinensis, the most common, and one of the dominant malaria mosquito in China. Here, we investigated the global miRNA expression profile across four different developmental stages including embryo, larval, pupal, and adult stages using Illumina Hiseq 2500 sequencing.ResultsIn total, 164 miRNAs were obtained out of 107.46 million raw sequencing reads. 99 of them identified as known miRNAs, and the remaining 65 miRNAs were considered as novel. By analyzing the read counts of miRNAs in all developmental stages, 95 miRNAs showed stage-specific expression (q < 0.01 and |log2 (fold change)| > 1) in consecutive stages, indicating that these miRNAs may be involved in critical physiological activity during development. Sixteen miRNAs were identified to be commonly dysregulated throughout four developmental stages. Many miRNAs showed stage-specific expression, such as asi-miR-2943 was exclusively expressed in the embryo stage, and asi-miR-1891 could not be detected in larval stage. The expression of six selected differentially expressed miRNAs identified by qRT-PCR were consistent with our sequencing results. Furthermore, 5296 and 1902 target genes were identified for the dysregulated 68 known and 27 novel miRNAs respectively by combining miRanda and RNAhybrid prediction. GO annotation and KEGG pathway analysis for the predicted genes of dysregulated miRNAs revealed that they might be involved in a broad range of biological processes related with the development, such as membrane, organic substance transport and several key pathways including protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, propanoate metabolism and folate biosynthesis. Thirty-two key miRNAs were identified by microRNA-gene network analysis.ConclusionThe present study represents the first global characterization of An. sinensis miRNAs in its four developmental stages. The presence and differential expression of An. sinensis miRNAs imply that such miRNAs may play critical roles in An. sinensis life cycle. A better understanding of the functions of these miRNAs will have great implication for the effective control of vector population and therefore interrupting malaria transmission.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13578-018-0227-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Characterization and potential role of microRNA in the Chinese dominant malaria mosquito Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae) throughout four different life stages

Feng¹,

Wu²,

Zhou³

et al. 2018

Cell Biosci

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“…anthropophagus [ 32 ] and An . funestus , [ 54 ] respectively. ast-miR-2943 and ast-miR-2945 were highly expressed in An .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

microRNA profiles and functions in mosquitoes

et al. 2018

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Mosquitoes are incriminated as vectors for many crippling diseases, including malaria, West Nile fever, Dengue fever, and other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). microRNAs (miRNAs) can interact with multiple target genes to elicit biological functions in the mosquitoes. However, characterization and function of individual miRNAs and their potential targets have not been fully determined to date. We conducted a systematic review of published literature following PRISMA guidelines. We summarize the information about miRNAs in mosquitoes to better understand their metabolism, development, and responses to microorganisms. Depending on the study, we found that miRNAs were dysregulated in a species-, sex-, stage-, and tissue/organ-specific manner. Aberrant miRNA expressions were observed in development, metabolism, host-pathogen interactions, and insecticide resistance. Of note, many miRNAs were down-regulated upon pathogen infection. The experimental studies have expanded the identification of miRNA target from the 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNAs of mosquitoes to the 5′ UTRs of mRNAs of the virus. In addition, we discuss current trends in mosquito miRNA research and offer suggestions for future studies.

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“…While mechanisms are known for how gene expression fluctuates during a blood meal at the transcriptional level (Attardo et al 2005), the mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression are largely unknown. As a much-needed step to address this gap in knowledge, the vector biology field is currently exploring post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA transcripts and its effects on female mosquito physiology by studying a class of small RNAs called microRNAs (miRNAs) (Mead and Tu 2008; Li et al 2009; Gu et al 2013; Hu et al 2015; Skalsky et al 2010; Biryukova et al 2014; Liu et al 2017; Jain et al 2014; Castellano et al 2015; Liu et al 2014b; Jain et al 2015; Allam et al 2016; Lampe and Levashina 2018; Fu et al 2017; Liu et al 2014a; Zhao et al 2017; Zhang et al 2016; Lucas et al 2015a; Lucas et al 2015b; Ling et al 2017; Zhang et al 2017; Akbari et al 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Small RNA-Seq Analysis Reveals miRNA Expression Dynamics Across Tissues in the Malaria Vector, Anopheles gambiae

Bryant

Mills

Olson

et al. 2019

G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics

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Malaria continues to be a major global health problem, where disease transmission is deeply linked to the repeated blood feeding nature of the anautogenous mosquito. Given the tight link between blood feeding and disease transmission, understanding basic biology behind mosquito physiology is a requirement for developing effective vector-borne disease control strategies. In the mosquito, numerous loss of function studies with notable phenotypes demonstrate microRNAs (miRNAs) play significant roles in mosquito physiology. While the field appreciates the importance of a handful of miRNAs, we still need global mosquito tissue miRNA transcriptome studies. To address this need, our goal was to determine the miRNA transcriptome for multiple tissues of the pre-vitellogenic mosquito. To this end, by using small RNA-Seq analysis, we determined miRNA transcriptomes in tissues critical for mosquito reproduction and immunity including (i) fat body-abdominal wall enriched tissues, (ii) midguts, (iii) ovaries, and (iv) remaining tissues comprised of the head and thorax. We found numerous examples of miRNAs exhibiting pan-tissue high- or low- expression, tissue exclusion, and tissue enrichment. We also updated and consolidated the miRNA catalog and provided a detailed genome architecture map for the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae . This study aims to build a foundation for future research on how miRNAs and potentially other small RNAs regulate mosquito physiology as it relates to vector-borne disease transmission.

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Identification and characterization of microRNAs expressed in the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus life stages using high throughput sequencing

Cited by 12 publications

References 95 publications

Characterization and potential role of microRNA in the Chinese dominant malaria mosquito Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae) throughout four different life stages

Characterization and potential role of microRNA in the Chinese dominant malaria mosquito Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae) throughout four different life stages

microRNA profiles and functions in mosquitoes

Small RNA-Seq Analysis Reveals miRNA Expression Dynamics Across Tissues in the Malaria Vector, Anopheles gambiae

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