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Vive la différence: biogenesis and evolution of microRNAs in plants and animals

Michael J Axtell1*, Jakub O Westholm2 and Eric C Lai2*

Author Affiliations

1 Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, USA

2 Department of Developmental Biology, Sloan-Kettering Institute, 1275 York Avenue, Box 252, New York, NY 10065, USA

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Genome Biology 2011, 12:221 doi:10.1186/gb-2011-12-4-221

Published: 28 April 2011

Abstract

MicroRNAs are pervasive in both plants and animals, but many aspects of their biogenesis, function and evolution differ. We reveal how these differences contribute to characteristic features of microRNA evolution in the two kingdoms.