MicroRNA transcriptome in the newborn mouse ovary determined by Illumina/Solexa small RNA discovery sequencing

Small noncoding RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in diverse biological processes including organ development and tissue differentiation. Global disruption of miRNA biogenesis in Dicer knockout mice disrupts early embryogenesis and primordial germ cell formation. However, the role of miRNAs in early folliculogenesis is poorly understood. In order to identify a full transcriptome set of small RNAs expressed in the newborn ovary, we extracted small RNA fraction from mouse newborn ovary tissues and subjected it to massive parallel sequencing using the illumina/solexa sequencing platform.