RESUMO

miRNAs involved in the biosynthesis of artemisinin, an anti-malarial compound form the plant Artemisia annua, have been identified using computational approaches to find conserved pre-miRNAs in available A. annua UniGene collections. Eleven pre-miRNAs were found from nine families. Targets predicted for these miRNAs were mainly transcription factors for conserved miRNAs. No target genes involved in artemisinin biosynthesis were found. However, miR390 was predicted to target a gene involved in the trichome development, which is the site of synthesis of artemisinin and could be a candidate for genetic transformation aiming to increase the content of artemisinin. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out to determinate the relation between A. annua and other plant pre-miRNAs: the pre-miRNA-based phylogenetic trees failed to correspond to known phylogenies, suggesting that pre-miRNA primary sequences may be too variable to accurately predict phylogenetic relations.

Assuntos

Antimaláricos/metabolismo , Artemisia annua/genética , Artemisininas/metabolismo , Vias Biossintéticas/genética , Lactonas/metabolismo , MicroRNAs/genética , Análise por Conglomerados , Biologia Computacional/métodos , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas , Modelos Moleculares , Conformação de Ácido Nucleico , Filogenia , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Homologia de Sequência do Ácido Nucleico , Fatores de Transcrição/genética