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Vol 45(2011) N 4 p. 576-581; Yong Huang1,2, Quan Zou3, Xing Jia Shen1,2*, Shun Ming Tang1,2, Sheng Peng Wang1,2, Qiao Ling Zhao1,2 Differential expression of microRNA-2b with potential target coding P25 in the fifth instar larvae posterior silk gland of the silkworm 1Sericultural Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang, 212018, China2Sericultural Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 212018, China 3School of Information Science and Technology of Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China *shenxj63@yahoo.com.cn Received - 2010-08-23; Accepted - 2010-09-24 MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-protein coding small RNAs that regulate a gene expres sion at the post-transcriptional level. Using in silico screening, we found that the 3'-untranslated regions of the P25 gene mRNA are perfectly complementary to nucleotides 2-8 at the 5' end of the miRNA-2b (miR-2b). The expression of miR-2b and the P25 gene in posterior silk gland of the fifth instar larval silkworm was investigated using real-time PCR detection method. The results indicated that expression of the P25 gene was very high in the posterior silk gland during the fifth instar larvae, whereas a level of miR-2b sharply decreased until reaching the lowest one on the 8th day. The expression patterns of miR-2b and P25 gene indicate that miR-2b might act as a fine-tuning regulator of expression of the P25 gene at the post-transcriptional level. microRNA, silkworm, in silico, P25 gene |