The mir-BART2microRNA precursor found in Human herpesvirus 4 (Epstein–Barr virus) and Cercopithicine herpesvirus 15. mir-BART2 is expressed in all stages of infection but expression is significantly elevated in the lytic stage. In Epstein-Barr virus, mir-BART2 is found in the intronic regions of the BART (Bam HI-A region rightward transcript) gene whose function is unknown. mir-BART2 is thought to target the virally encoded DNA polymerase BALF5 for degradation. The mature sequence is excised from the 5' arm of the hairpin.[1]
References
^Pfeffer S, Zavolan M, Grässer FA, Chien M, Russo JJ, Ju J, John B, Enright AJ, Marks D, Sander C, Tuschl T (April 2004). "Identification of virus-encoded microRNAs". Science. 304 (5671): 734–6. doi:10.1126/science.1096781. PMID15118162. S2CID25287167.