Yan Junting; Artem Yurevich Pronozin; Dmitry Arkadievich Afonnikov
Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia;Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia; Kurchatov Genomic Center of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
t.yan5@g.nsu.ru
We conducted a computational study to predict interactions between long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) in maize. Using transcriptome data from fuzzy tassel (fzt) mutants with disrupted miRNA biogenesis, we identified lncRNAs that were upregulated in response to reduced miRNA expression.
We developed a bioinformatics pipeline that included transcriptome assembly, lncRNA identification, differential expression analysis, and miRNA–lncRNA interaction prediction. We predicted interactions between 14 lncRNAs and downregulated miRNAs, and found that several lncRNAs may act as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs).
Our results provide insights into the regulatory roles of non-coding RNAs in maize and demonstrate the potential of lncRNAs to modulate miRNA activity.