title: Evidence of putative non-coding RNAs from Leishmania untranslated regions.
abstract: Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are regulatory elements present in a wide range of organisms, including trypanosomatids. ncRNAs transcribed from the untranslated regions (UTRs) of coding genes have been described in the transcriptomes of several eukaryotes, including Trypanosoma brucei. To uncover novel putative ncRNAs in two Leishmania species, we examined a L. major cDNA library and a L. donovani non-polysomal RNA library. Using a combination of computational analysis and experimental approaches, we classified 26 putative ncRNA in L. major, of these, 5 arising from intergenic regions and 21 from untranslated regions. In L. donovani, we classified 37 putative ncRNAs, of these, 7 arising from intergenic regions, and 30 from UTRs. Our results suggest, for the first time, that UTR-transcripts may be a common feature in the eukaryote Leishmania similarly to those previously shown in T. brucei and other eukaryotes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Freitas Castro
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patricia C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Ruy
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nogueira Zeviani
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Freitas Santos
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliano
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simões Toledo
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: akcruz@fmrp.usp.br.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaysel Cruz
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015723:Gene Library; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000235:genetics*; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000235:genetics*; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics*; D020506:Untranslated Regions
chemical_list: D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D020506:Untranslated Regions
keywords: Leishmania; Non-coding RNA; UTR-Transcript; UTR-associated RNA; UTR-derived RNAs; ncRNA; uaRNA