MicroRNAs in Drosophila: The magic wand to enter the Chamber of Secrets?

Stéphanie Jaubert (1) , Agnès Méreau (2) , Christophe Antoniewski (3) , Denis Tagu (4)

1 IGEPP - Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes
2 IGDR - Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes
3 Génétique et Epigénétique de la Drosophile
4 BIO3P - Biologie des organismes et des populations appliquées à la protection des plantes

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that are now recognised as key regulators of gene expression in eukaryotes. Over the past few years, hundreds of miRNAs have been identified from various organisms including vertebrates, nematodes, insects and plants. A high level of conservation of some miRNAs from animals to plants underlines their crucial role in eukaryotes. Although biogenesis and mode of action of miRNAs are now quite well understood, their numerous and specific regulatory functions remain to be unravelled. In this review, we summarise the current knowledge on miRNAs in insects, which was mainly acquired through the study of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.

Mots clés: MICRO-ARN

Mots clés: INSECTE

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire

Stéphanie Jaubert, Agnès Méreau, Christophe Antoniewski, Denis Tagu. MicroRNAs in Drosophila: The magic wand to enter the Chamber of Secrets?. Biochimie, 2007, 89 (10), pp.1211-1220. ⟨10.1016/j.biochi.2007.05.012⟩. ⟨hal-02202002⟩