Abstract
A deep-sequencing approach to profiling gender-specific developmental regulation of small non-coding RNA expression in C. elegans reveals dynamic temporal expression and novel miRNAs and 21U RNAs.
Highlights
Small non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs, serve an important role in controlling gene expression during development and disease
To examine the changes in expression levels of non-coding RNA populations in development and in the different sexes of C. elegans, and to identify additional non-coding small RNAs, we generated cDNA libraries of small RNAs purified from six developmental stages of hermaphrodites and young adult males (generated from a dpy-28(y1);him-8(e1489) strain)
In addition to these known functional non-coding RNA species, we identified many novel miRNA candidates and novel Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA)/21-nucleotide RNAs starting with a uracil (21U-RNA) in the 'Other reads' fraction
Summary
Small non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), serve an important role in controlling gene expression during development and disease. Until recently it had been believed that gene regulatory networks consisted solely of protein-coding genes, and, in particular, those encoding transcription factors. The complete sequencing of many organisms has revealed that only a small fraction of most genomes encodes proteins (reviewed in [1,2]). Recent in-depth genome-wide efforts, including full-length cDNA cloning and tiling microarray analysis, have shown that a large fraction of the remaining non-coding regions are much more extensively transcribed into stable RNAs than previously appreciated (reviewed in [1,2,3]). Significant portions of these transcripts are small, non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs).
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