In silico prediction of active RNA genes in legumes
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play key roles in gene regulation and may form the basis of an inter-gene communication system. MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs found in both plants and animals that regulate the expression of other genes. Identification and analysis of microRNAs enhances our understanding of the important roles that microRNAs play in this complex regulatory network. The work presented in this thesis
constitutes the first large-scale prediction and characterization of both ncRNAs
and miRNAs in the model legume Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, and
provides a basis for further research on elucidating ncRNA function in legume
genomics...