PREreview of A virus-encoded microRNA contributes to evade innate immune response during SARS-CoV-2 infection

In this preprint, Singh et al. identify two novel small RNA transcripts produced during SARS-COV-2 infection. The authors go on to demonstrate Dicer-mediated miR-7a production, gene-specific targeting of interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) during the course of infection, and use bioinformatic analyses from clinical isolates to demonstrate these miR transcripts are not a cell culture artifact.

Methodology is well-described and conclusions are well justified. The manuscript's one limitation is a loss of function study in which the authors mutate the endogenous MiR-7a sequences and evaluating whether they see decreases in ISG expression or diminished virulence of the mutant strain. Still, the present work demonstrates a novel and compelling discovery that will contribute to our emerging understanding of host-pathogen interactions during SARS-CoV-2 infection.