miRNAs of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus 1762) conserved in six orders of the class Insecta

Abstract

Aedesaegypti L. is the most important vector of arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, Mayaro, and yellow fever, which impact millions of people’s health per year. MicroRNA profile has been described in some mosquito species as being important for biological processes such as digestion of blood, oviposition, sexual differentiation, insecticide resistance, and pathogens dissemination. We identified the miRNAs of Ae.aegypti females, males and eggs of a reference insecticide susceptible strain New Orleans and compared them with those other insects to determine miRNA fingerprint by new-generation sequencing. The sequences were analyzed using data mining tools and categorization, followed by differential expression analysis and conservation with other insects. A total of 55 conserved miRNAs were identified, of which 34 were of holometabolous insects and 21 shared with hemimetabolous insects. Of these miRNAs, 32 had differential expression within the stages analyzed. Three predominant functions of miRNA were related to embryonic development regulation, metamorphosis, and basal functions. The findings of this research describe new information on Ae.aegypti physiology which could be useful for the development of new control strategies, particularly in mosquito development and metamorphosis processes.

microRNA Expression Dynamics in Culicoides sonorensis Biting Midges Following Blood-Feeding

“…Our data revealed Culicoides cso-miR-956 was enriched in midgut tissues. In miRBase, miR-956 is only described in Drosophila but has been reported in multiple Dipteran taxa, including Culicomorpha (Culicidae) and Calyptratae muscoids (Sarcophagidae and Calliphoridae) [49,[55][56][57][58]. Work on Drosophila has alluded to multiple potential functions of miR-956, as this miRNA is thought to regulate the circadian rhythm [59] and has been recently shown to have a role in intestinal cell differentiation [60].…”

“…To identify conserved miRNAs across insect taxa, Culicoides mature and precursor miRNA sequences were queried against Diptera (Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae, Culex quinquefasciatus, Drosophila melanogaster, and Drosophila mojavensis), Lepidoptera (Bombyx mori, Heliconius melpomene, and Manduca sexta), Hymenoptera (Apis mellifera), Coleoptera (Tribolium castaneum), and Hemiptera (Acyrthosiphon pisum) miRNAs using the miRBase v22 BLAST analyses (Table S3). Resulting miRNAs with e values < 0.005 were considered conserved as previously described [49].…”