Identification of a microRNA encoded by Anticarsia gemmatalis Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus

FERRELLI, MARÍA LETICIA; GARCÍA, MARÍA LAURA; ROMANOWSKI, VÍCTOR; REYES, CARINA ANDREA

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Año: 2020

1476-9271

MicroRNAs are regulatory RNAs that are scarcely described in Baculoviruses. In this work we predicted a microRNA in silico, denominated agmnpv-mir-4, encoded in the genome of Anticarsia gemmatalis Nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgMNPV), which is homologous to the already validated bmnpv-mir-4 from Bombyx mori Nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV). Considering information known for bmnpv-mir-4 such as seed sequence, coding location in the genome and putative target binding, we searched for the coding sequence of agmnpv-mir-4 in AgMNPV genome. A precursor sequence of agmnpv-mir-4 was predicted, and we identified a putative 23 nt mature microRNA, agmnpv-mir-4, coded in the complementary strand of AgMNPV-2D between positions 49450 and 49472. We validated agmnpv-mir-4 by Northern blot from HighFive cells and A. gemmatalis larve extracts infected with AgMNPV.