title: Non-coding RNA gene families in the genomes of anopheline mosquitoes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Only a small fraction of the mosquito species of the genus Anopheles are able to transmit malaria, one of the biggest killer diseases of poverty, which is mostly prevalent in the tropics. This diversity has genetic, yet unknown, causes. In a further attempt to contribute to the elucidation of these variances, the international "Anopheles Genomes Cluster Consortium" project (a.k.a. "16 Anopheles genomes project") was established, aiming at a comprehensive genomic analysis of several anopheline species, most of which are malaria vectors. In the frame of the international consortium carrying out this project our team studied the genes encoding families of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), concentrating on four classes: microRNA (miRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), and in particular small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) and, finally, transfer RNA (tRNA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our analysis was carried out using, exclusively, computational approaches, and evaluating both the primary NGS reads as well as the respective genome assemblies produced by the consortium and stored in VectorBase; moreover, the results of RNAseq surveys in cases in which these were available and meaningful were also accessed in order to obtain supplementary data, as were "pre-genomic era" sequence data stored in nucleic acid databases. The investigation included the identification and analysis, in most species studied, of ncRNA genes belonging to several families, as well as the analysis of the evolutionary relations of some of those genes in cross-comparisons to other members of the genus Anopheles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study led to the identification of members of these gene families in the majority of twenty different anopheline taxa. A set of tools for the study of the evolution and molecular biology of important disease vectors has, thus, been obtained.
authors.forename: Vicky
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dritsou
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Deligianni
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dialynas
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poulakakis
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Louis
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, FORTH, Heraklion, Greece. topalis@imbb.forth.gr.
authors.forename: Pantelis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Topalis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D049750:Genome, Insect; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D020537:RNA, Small Nucleolar / Q000235:genetics; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D020537:RNA, Small Nucleolar; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D012343:RNA, Transfer