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Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Identification of Footprints of RNA:Protein Complexes via RNA Immunoprecipitation in Tandem Followed by Sequencing RIPiT-Seq
Published on: July 10, 2019
Rfam 15: RNA families database in 2025
Nancy Ontiveros1, Emma Cooke2, Eric P Nawrocki3
1European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Wellcome Genome Campus, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SD, UK.
Abstract:
The Rfam database, a widely-used repository of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) families, has undergone significant updates in release 15.0. This paper introduces major improvements, including the expansion of Rfamseq to 26,106 genomes, a 76% increase, incorporating the latest UniProt reference proteomes and additional viral genomes. Sixty-five RNA families were enhanced using experimentally determined 3D structures, improving the accuracy of consensus secondary structures and annotations. R-scape covariation analysis was used to refine structural predictions in 26 families. Gene Ontology and Sequence Ontology annotations were comprehensively updated, increasing GO term coverage to 75% of families. The release adds 14 new Hepatitis C Virus RNA families and completes microRNA family synchronisation with miRBase, resulting in 1,603 microRNA families. New data types, including FULL alignments, have been implemented. Integration with APICURON for improved curator attribution and multiple website enhancements further improve user experience. These updates significantly expand Rfam's coverage and improve annotation quality, reinforcing its critical role in RNA research, genome annotation, and the development of machine learning models. Rfam is freely available at https://rfam.org.
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