Deep sequencing of small RNA facilitates tissue and sex associated microRNA discovery in zebrafish.

Background The role of microRNAs in gene regulation has been well established. The extent of miRNA regulation also increases with increasing genome complexity. Though the number of genes appear to be equal between human and zebrafish, substantially less microRNAs have been discovered in zebrafish compared to human (miRBase Release 19). It appears that most of the miRNAs in zebrafish are yet to be discovered.