Dataset on discovery of microRNAs in Centella asiatica (L.) Urb

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (21-24 nucleotides), non-coding, riboregulators that regulate gene expression in eukaryotes. Pentacyclic triterpenoid saponins and sapogenins known as centellosides of the plant Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. are known for their broad spectrum medicinal properties. Two C. asiatica accessions viz.,CA301 and CA308 were selected for the miRNAome profiling. Total RNA isolated from fresh young leaves of both accessions along with their replicas was used for library construction. Illumina® sequencing of the four small RNA libraries generated a total of 59,234,923; 58,487,817; 59,520,376; 64,093,228 raw reads. The raw reads were quality filtered and used for the prediction of conserved and novel miRNAs. A total of 227 conserved and 109 novel microRNAs were identified from the libraries. Target gene prediction done using psRNAtarget and PANTHER™GO helped in localization of predicted targets. KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia for Genes and Genomes) was used for pathway prediction of the targets of predicted miRNAs. The present study provides first elaborated glimpse of miRNA pool of C. asiatica. The outcome of this research could help understand miRNA dependent regulation of centelloside biosynthesis and to design further metabolic engineering experiments to enhance their content in this important medicinal plant.