title: qiRNApredictor: A Novel Computational Program for the Prediction of qiRNAs in Neurospora crassa.
abstract: Recently, a new type of small interfering RNAs (qiRNAs) of typically 20~21 nucleotides was found in Neurospora crassa and rice and has been shown to regulate gene silencing in the DNA damage response. Identification of qiRNAs is fundamental for dissecting regulatory functions and molecular mechanisms. In contrast to other expensive and time-consuming experimental methods, the computational prediction of qiRNAs is a conveniently rapid method for gaining valuable information for a subsequent experimental verification. However, no tool existed to date for the prediction of qiRNAs. To this purpose, we developed the novel qiRNA prediction software package qiRNApredictor. This software demonstrates a promising sensitivity of 93.55% and a specificity of 71.61% from the leave-one-out validation. These studies might be beneficial for further experimental investigation. Furthermore, the local package of qiRNApredictor was implemented and made freely available to the academic community at Supplementary material.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Haiyou
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gui
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Chengzhang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yuangen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D020868:Gene Silencing; D020407:Internet; D009492:Neurospora crassa / Q000235:genetics*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D034741:RNA, Small Interfering