Microrna Expression in Aurelia aurita Metamorphosis

The present study highlights the importance of Aurelia aurita as a model for investigating miRNA-driven epigenetic regulation in non-bilaterian animals. The identifica-tion of human-homologous miRNAs provides novel insights into the evolutionary stability of the epigenetic machinery and suggests conserved regulatory functions across distant taxa. Although limited by the use of a human-based microarray platform, the data presented here lay a solid foundation for future studies employing sequencing and functional assays to fur-ther explore the role of miRNAs in cnidarian development and evolution.