In silico mapping and characterization of circular RNAs in Halobacterium salinarum

Abstract

A plethora of circular RNAs (circRNAs) has been recently reported in organisms from all domains of life, indicating its importance in gene regulatory networks. In the Archaea domain, Halobacterium salinarum has been established as a model organism since it is easy to grow in the laboratory and amenable to genetic manipulations. These properties also allowed the acquisition of abundant data in genomic scale, which culminated in the construction of a global gene regulatory network model for this organism. Our lab has been working on the identification and characterization of non-coding RNAs in H. salinarum in order to refine the models of gene regulation. Through the acquisition of experimental RNA-Seq data it was possible to verify the presence of a large number of circRNAs in H. salinarum; some of them might act as antisense RNAs to genes important in the cellular metabolism. However, to refine the mapping of these molecules and exclude false positives, it is necessary to perform a careful analysis of the experimental data already obtained. In this project, we propose to use bioinformatic tools to refine the mapping of circRNAs and initiate an in silico characterization of these molecules, including structural properties. These information should enrich the set of ncRNAs identified in H. salinarum to further refine the global model of gene regulation, including circRNAs. (AU)