Detection of 91 potential conserved plant microRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa identifies important target genes.

ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an extensive class of tiny RNA molecules that regulate the expression of target genes by means of complementary base pair interactions. Although the first miRNAs were discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, >300 miRNAs were recently documented in animals and plants, both by cloning methods and computational predictions. We present a genome-wide computational approach to detect miRNA genes in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome. Our method is based on the conservation of short sequences between the genomes of Arabidopsis and rice (Oryza sativa) and on properties of the secondary structure of the miRNA precursor. The method was fine-tuned to take into account plant-specific properties, such as the variable length of the miRNA precursor sequences. In total, 91 potential miRNA

SUBMITTER: Bonnet E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC509231 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature