Accurate identification of non-polyadenylated RNA using a custom human cytomegalovirus tiling array

Most eukaryotes regulate commonly translation by polyadenylation of messenger RNA. RNA sequences without 3' polyadenylation are usually quickly degraded, thus finely tuning the expression of gene transcripts. Some viruses are known to regulate mRNA levels via polyadenylation. A method is described that utilizes a customized tiling array to determine if any human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) transcripts are subject to regulation via de-polyadenylation and subsequent mRNA decay. The results of this study indicate that the highly expressed intron of large non-coding RNA (lncRNA5) that is not polyadenylated, as documented previously. This differential polyadenylation protocol can also be modified for other tiling array applications (such as ChIP-chip analysis).