Identificação, caracterização de miRNAs e sua via de processamento em Lanistes nyassanus e Marisa cornuarietis

Abstract

miRNAs (micro RNAs) are small RNA sequences conserved among species during evolution that have gene regulatory activities. The Ampullariidae are a family of molluscs that derived from the Caenogastropodaclade and that, due to characteristics such as their origin during Gondwana and their presence in tropical regions of Africa and America, are interesting sources of research for evolutionary studies. The species Lanistes nyassanus and Marisa cornuarietis are Old and Newworld snails, which show adaptive variability to each other. Even though it is probably the second phylum in number of species, the number of genomes sequenced from molluscs has not been proportionally following that of other phyla, consequently impairing in silico analysis, which could search for gene regulators such as miRNAs. The present study identified, characterized and analysed the miRNAs (mature and precursors) and the probable proteins involved in the miRNA processing pathway in the predicted genomes and proteomes of L. nyassanus and M. cornuarietis species using bioinformatics tools and the public database NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information). The analysis revealed 141 precursors of miRNAs and 162 mature miRNAs in the genome of L. nyassanus, and 279 precursors of miRNAs and 297 mature miRNAs in the genome of M. cornuarietis, including Mollusca-specific miRNAs. It was also possible to identify and characterize the probable proteins of the miRNA biogenesis pathway, highlighting the Argonaute, DROSHA, Dicer and Exportin proteins in the predicted proteome of the two species. The results obtained in this work open great possibilities for the study of speciation and factors that lead to species diversity in the Ampullariidae family