Computational identification of microRNAs and their target genes in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding small RNAs, which play a crucial function in specific biological and metabolic processes of plants and animals. MicroRNAs are very small sequences of 18 to 26 nucleotides length, which regulate gene expression through either inhibition of mRNA translation or mRNA cleavage by binding to target mRNAs. EST-based homology search, a powerful and comparative computational approach, is applied to detect conserved miRNAs in sesame. A homology search of previously identified miRNAs of Viridiplantae was performed against 16548 transcripts of sesame so as to detect novel miRNAs of sesame crop. In the present study, 4 potential miRNAs were detected through various stringent filtering criteria. Using psRNATarget server, 143 potential target genes were predicted which corresponds to the predicted miRNAs in sesame. The target genes tend primarily to encode DNA-binding proteins, transcription factors, stress-responsive genes and genes that regulate signal transduction. Results from the current study will hasten the way for understanding some mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene silencing and other functions of miRNAs in sesame.