Computational analysis of small RNAs in maize mutants with defects in development and paramutation
Date
2014
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Small RNAs (sRNAs) are short segments of RNA which can induce gene silencing through interactions with homologous sequences by controlling either the stability or translation of mRNA. There are various classes of small RNA which differ in both their biogenesis and modes of suppression including microRNAs (miRNA) and heterochromatic short interfering RNAs (siRNA). The maize mutant fuzzy tassel exhibits a wide range of developmental defects has been found to contain a mutation in DICER-LIKE1, a critical enzyme involved in the biogenesis pathway of miRNAs. In addition, numerous maize mutants identified as being deficient in paramutation have been shown to be severely deficient in the accumulation of heterochromatic siRNAs as compared to normal maize plants. In order to determine the overall effects on small RNAs of these mutants, we have developed two separate computational pipelines to investigate the severity and specificity for which each of these mutants affect the biogenesis of miRNAs and heterochromatic siRNAs.