Evolution of microRNA diversity and regulation in animals

In the past decade, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been uncovered as key regulators of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. The ancient origin of miRNAs, their dramatic expansion in bilaterian animals and their function in providing robustness to transcriptional programmes suggest that miRNAs are instrumental in the evolution of organismal complexity. Advances in understanding miRNA biology, combined with the increasing availability of diverse sequenced genomes, have begun to reveal the molecular mechanisms that underlie the evolution of miRNAs and their targets. Insights are also emerging into how the evolution of miRNA-containing regulatory networks has contributed to organismal complexity.