Abstract:

Objective  To predict the miRNA sequence an its biological function by determining the miRNA expression level in adult Schistosoma japonicum with high-throughput sequencing technique. Methods The miRNAs of Schistosoma japonicum were extracted and analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. Length distribution and expression levels of miRNAs were identified and annotated. Then the structure and expression of newly identified miRNA sequences were predicted with software tool, and aligned with Schistosoma japonicum miRNAs in library of latest Sanger miRBase database. Results In the Schistosoma japonicum miRNAs, sja-mir-125b was maximally expressed, followed by sja-bantam, sja-mir-10, sja-mir-71a, sja-mir-36 and sja-mir-61, which accounted for 94.6% of the known miRNAs. Additionally, ten new miRNAs of Schistosoma japonicum were found, and their sequences and structures were further predicted. Conclusion Novel miRNAs, especially sja-mir-125b detected in our work may lay a foundation for following research in Schistosoma japonicum development and pathogenic.

Key words: Non-coding RNAs, microRNA, High-throughput sequencing, Schistosoma japonicum, Adult worm