[Regulation of zebrafish development by microRNAs]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding small RNAs at the length about 22nt, which are found in the cells of both unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes, and highly conserved in many processes of biological evolution. miRNAs play important roles in the regulation of animal development, physiological functions, and pathological processes. As a model organism, zebrafish has been widely used in the modern biological researches. The studies on miRNAs in zebrafish are capable of revealing the function of miRNAs in vertebrate. This paper reviews the effects of total miRNA deletion and the individual miRNAs on the embryonic development of zebrafish in order to provide the clues for the functional researches of miRNAs on vertebrate and breeding in fish.