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MicroRNA-9a ensures the precise specification of sensory organ precursors in Drosophila

Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Department of Neurology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in regulating various aspects of animal development, but their functions in neurogenesis are largely unknown. Here we report that loss of miR-9a function in the Drosophila peripheral nervous system leads to ectopic production of sensory organ precursors (SOPs), whereas overexpression of miR-9a results in a severe loss of SOPs. We further demonstrate a strong genetic interaction between miR-9a and senseless (sens) in controlling the formation of SOPs in the adult wing imaginal disc. Moreover, miR-9a suppresses Sens expression through its 3' untranslated region. miR-9a is expressed in epithelial cells, including those adjacent to SOPs within proneural clusters, suggesting that miR-9a normally inhibits neuronal fate in non-SOP cells by down-regulating Sens expression. These results indicate that miR-9a ensures the generation of the precise number of neuronal precursor cells during development.

[Keywords: MicroRNA; SOP; Senseless; Drosophila ; PNS]

Received July 6, 2006; revised version accepted August 22, 2006.

² Corresponding author.

E-MAIL fgao{at}gladstone.ucsf.edu; FAX (415) 355-0824.

Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.

Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1466306.

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