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Published on: December 16, 2015
Comparative analysis of milk microRNA in the therian lineage highlights the evolution of lactation
Christophe Lefèvre1, Pooja Venkat2, Amit Kumar3
1School of Medicine, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Geelong, Vic. 3220, Australia; and Division of Bioinformatics, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Vic. 3052, Australia; and Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia; and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.
Abstract:
Milk is a complex secretion that has an important role in mammalian reproduction. It is only recently that sequencing technologies have allowed the identification and quantification of microRNA (miRNA) in milk of a growing number of mammalian species. This provides a novel window on the study of the evolution and functionality of milk through the comparative analysis of milk miRNA content. Here, milk miRNA sequencing data from five species (one marsupial (tammar wallaby) and four eutherians (human, mouse, cow and pig)) have been retrieved from public depositories and integrated in order to perform a comparison of milk miRNA profiles. The study shows that milk miRNA composition varies widely between species, except for a few miRNAs that are ubiquitously expressed in the milk of all mammals and indicates that milk miRNA secretion has broadly evolved during mammalian evolution. The putative functions of the most abundant milk miRNAs are also discussed.
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