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Updated: Feb 26, 2026

A Bioinformatics Pipeline to Accurately and Efficiently Analyze the MicroRNA Transcriptomes in Plants
Published on: January 21, 2020
New technologies accelerate the exploration of non-coding RNAs in horticultural plants
Degao Liu1, Ritesh Mewalal1, Rongbin Hu1
1Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6422, USA.
Abstract:
Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), that is, RNAs not translated into proteins, are crucial regulators of a variety of biological processes in plants. While protein-encoding genes have been relatively well-annotated in sequenced genomes, accounting for a small portion of the genome space in plants, the universe of plant ncRNAs is rapidly expanding. Recent advances in experimental and computational technologies have generated a great momentum for discovery and functional characterization of ncRNAs. Here we summarize the classification and known biological functions of plant ncRNAs, review the application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and ribosome profiling technology to ncRNA discovery in horticultural plants and discuss the application of new technologies, especially the new genome-editing tool clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) systems, to functional characterization of plant ncRNAs.
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