Sammanfattning

Genome data are increasingly important in the computational identification of novel regulatory non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). However, most ncRNA gene-finders are either specialized to well-characterized ncRNA gene families or require comparisons of closely related genomes. We developed a method for de novo screening for ncRNA genes with a nucleotide composition that stands out against the background genome based on a partial sum process. We compared the performance when assuming independent and first-order Markov-dependent nucleotides, respectively, and used Karlin-Altschul and Karlin-Dembo statistics to evaluate the significance of hits. We hypothesized that a first-order Markov-dependent process might have better power to detect ncRNA genes since nearest-neighbor models have been shown to be successful in predicting RNA structures. A model based on a first-order partial sum process (analyzing overlapping dinucleotides) had better sensitivity and specificity than a zeroth-order model when applied to the AT-rich genome of the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. In this genome, we detected 94% of previously known ncRNA genes (at this sensitivity, the false positive rate was estimated to be 25% in a simulated background). The predictions were further refined by clustering candidate genes according to sequence similarity and/or searching for an ncRNA-associated upstream element. We experimentally verified six out of 10 tested ncRNA gene predictions. We conclude that higher-order models, in combination with other information, are useful for identification of novel ncRNA gene families in single-genome analysis of D. discoideum. Our generalizable approach extends the range of genomic data that can be searched for novel ncRNA genes using well-grounded statistical methods.

Publicerad i

Genome Research
2008, Volym: 18, nummer: 6, sidor: 888-899
Utgivare: COLD SPRING HARBOR LAB PRESS, PUBLICATIONS DEPT

SLU författare

• Hinas, Andrea

  • Institutionen för molekylärbiologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Söderbom, Fredrik

  • Institutionen för molekylärbiologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

UKÄ forskningsämne

Genetik


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.069104.107

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/18174