Population-level annotation of lncRNAs in Arabidopsis reveals extensive expression variation associated with transposable element-like silencing.

ABSTRACT: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are understudied and underannotated in plants. In mammals, lncRNA loci are nearly as ubiquitous as protein-coding genes, and their expression is highly variable between individuals of the same species. Using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model, we aimed to elucidate the true scope of lncRNA transcription across plants from different regions and study its natural variation. We used transcriptome deep sequencing data sets spanning hundreds of natural accessions and several developmental stages to create a population-wide annotation of lncRNAs, revealing thousands of previously unannotated lncRNA loci. While lncRNA transcription is ubiquitous in the genome, most loci appear to be actively silenced and their expression is extremely variable between natural accessions.

SUBMITTER: Kornienko AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10734619 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature