Finding differentially expressed sRNA-Seq regions with srnadiff

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 20;16(8):e0256196. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256196. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Small RNAs (sRNAs) encompass a great variety of molecules of different kinds, such as microRNAs, small interfering RNAs, Piwi-associated RNA, among others. These sRNAs have a wide range of activities, which include gene regulation, protection against virus, transposable element silencing, and have been identified as a key actor in determining the development of the cell. Small RNA sequencing is thus routinely used to assess the expression of the diversity of sRNAs, usually in the context of differentially expression, where two conditions are compared. Tools that detect differentially expressed microRNAs are numerous, because microRNAs are well documented, and the associated genes are well defined. However, tools are lacking to detect other types of sRNAs, which are less studied, and whose precursor RNA is not well characterized. We present here a new method, called srnadiff, which finds all kinds of differentially expressed sRNAs. To the extent of our knowledge, srnadiff is the first tool that detects differentially expressed sRNAs without the use of external information, such as genomic annotation or additional sequences of sRNAs.

MeSH terms

  • Computational Biology*
  • DNA Transposable Elements / genetics
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / genetics
  • Gene Silencing
  • Genome, Bacterial / genetics
  • Genomics
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics*
  • RNA, Small Untranslated / genetics*

Substances

  • DNA Transposable Elements
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • RNA, Small Untranslated

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.