{
  "abstract": "MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play crucial regulatory roles in gene expression in metazoans. While the miRNA repertoire and relative abundances have been extensively studied in terrestrial mammals, no information was available for the milk of marine mammals. Here, we present the first characterization of the miRNA genomic landscape and abundance in milk in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Using a sequence-based comparative approach, we identified 186 conserved miRNA families comprising 354 high-confidence precursors in the dolphin genome. Comparative analysis across 52 cetacean genomes revealed a small number of lineage-specific loss events, such as mir-187 in Delphinidae, and the absence of nine miRNA families in all cetaceans. Small RNA sequencing from pooled milk samples confirmed the detectable abundance of 119 miRNAs, with a landscape dominated by mir-148, let-7, mir-8, and mir-21, collectively accounting for over 70% of total miRNA reads. These dominant families include miRNAs frequently reported in the milk of terrestrial mammals, suggesting qualitative similarity in the major milk miRNA repertoire between dolphin and terrestrial mammals. These findings should be interpreted as a first sequencing-supported exploratory characterization of dolphin milk miRNAs.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Legnaro, Italy",
    "Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri” - National Reference Centre for Ovine and Caprine Milk and Dairy Products Quality (C.Re.L.D.O.C.), Rome, Italy",
    "Azienda Sanitaria Locale, Roma 4, Distretto 4, Rignano Flaminio, Rome, Italy",
    "General practitioner freelance AniCura - Clinica Veterinaria Borghesiana, Rome, Italy",
    "Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Filippo Cendron"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Carlo Boselli"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Flavio Maggi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Annalisa Duri"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Valentina D’Onofrio"
    },
    {
      "name": "Massimo De Marchi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mauro Penasa"
    },
    {
      "name": "Umberto Rosani"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0qh4zydzfvdaa.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0356241",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "0qh4zydzfvdaa",
  "issns": [
    "1932-6203"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356241",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1306|MicroRNA in disease regulation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Anatomy/Body fluids/Milk"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Biochemistry/Nucleic acids/RNA/Non-coding RNA/Natural antisense transcripts/MicroRNAs"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression/Gene regulation/MicroRNAs"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Genomics"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Genomics/Animal genomics/Mammalian genomics"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Genomics/Human genomics"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Marine biology/Marine mammals/Dolphins"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Nutrition/Diet/Beverages/Milk"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Mammals"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Mammals/Marine mammals/Dolphins"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Mammals/Ruminants/Goats"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Physiology/Body fluids/Milk"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Mammals"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Mammals/Marine mammals/Dolphins"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Mammals/Ruminants/Goats"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Earth sciences/Marine and aquatic sciences/Marine biology/Marine mammals/Dolphins"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Anatomy/Body fluids/Milk"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Nutrition/Diet/Beverages/Milk"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7212004016",
  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0356241&type=printable",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-09",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0qh4zydzfvdaa.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:56Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0356241",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356241"
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  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:genomics",
      "subfield": "genetics-genomics"
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    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:zoology",
      "subfield": "zoology-behaviour"
    },
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:anatomy",
      "subfield": "physiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "First insights into the miRNA landscape of Tursiops truncatus milk reveal shared dominant microRNA families with terrestrial mammals",
  "title_text": "First insights into the miRNA landscape of Tursiops truncatus milk reveal shared dominant microRNA families with terrestrial mammals",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:56Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0qh4zydzfvdaa",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
  "versions": []
}