Transcriptome characteristics of filamentous fungi deduced using high-throughput analytical technologies

Transcriptomes are the complete set of genome sequences transcribed at a given time point by a given organism, organ, tissue or cell. The availability of high-throughput analytical techniques and, especially, the democratization of the use of RNA sequencing using new platforms have made it possible to transform transcriptome analysis into a common study affordable by most laboratories. In many cases, however, there is a certain level of prevention toward the use of these technologies because of the lack of knowledge about what has been done, what can be done and how high-throughput sequencing can help us solve specific scientific questions. Here, we will try to answer some initial questions about fungal transcriptome analysis, provide some examples of fungal biology questions that have been addressed using this approach and extract some general conclusions about the transcriptome structure and dynamics in fungal systems.