Analysing of conserved miRNAs on goat (Capra hircus) by computational approaches

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (nearly 22 nucleotides) RNAs which regulate gene expression by a sort of mechanisms. They are transcribed from DNA but there is no equivalent for proteins. They are mainly located on non-coding sequences of genome and they are conserved in evolutionary process. miRNAs play an important role in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression and work as small degradation molecules. Also they have roles in stem cells differentiation, apoptosis mechanism and cell to cell communication. In addition, the association between miRNAs and diseases, lactation of farm animals and meat yields are known. For example, several miRNAs have been found associated with cancers. In this study, the genetic studies to be performed later on goat genome aimed at building an infrastructure. For this purpose, the cattle (Bos taurus) miRNAs were obtained from miRBase and then these miRNA sequences were scanned in goat cDNA libraries by Blastn program to gain match sequences. As a result of this study, 35 new candidate miRNAs in goat genome were determined by computational approaches. These obtained candidate miRNAs are conserved in the evolutionary process between cattle and goat. These obtained miRNAs would be the basis on subsequently to be made genetic studies and improvement of domestic animals.