About this Research Topic
Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) form the majority of an organism's genome, in comparison to coding regions. While studies have shown their potential role as biomarkers in diseases like cancer in humans, many ncRNAs have emerged as key regulatory molecules in different stress responses in plants. At present, studies on ncRNAs seem to be focused or limited to three major regulatory ncRNAs including micro-RNAs (miRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). There are many other classes of ncRNAs including other regulatory ncRNAs like small interfering RNA (siRNA), piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA), and housekeeping ncRNAs like ribosomal RNA (rRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) and tRNA-Derived Fragments (tRFs). If not all, many of these may have some potential roles in one or other biological processes, potentially equivalent to the aforementioned three classes. We must explore all possible classes of ncRNAs for all possible roles in all known forms of life and organisms including plants, humans or bacteria.
Moreover, considering the variations in existing methodology and mechanism of different existing tools, it is high time to standardize the prediction and identification of different ncRNAs; whether they be well-studied classes or less explored. One can compare the existing approaches to finalize a consensus approach, or sort out the best methods, or even attempt to develop new ones. Additionally, we should not restrict our work to just the identification or reporting of ncRNAs but attempt for well-annotated ncRNAs with validated functions in a biological context and the interactions among various ncRNA types and also with coding genes.
This Research Topic aims to collect Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Methods, Reviews, and Mini-Review articles discussing the new class and potentials of ncRNAs in different genera, including (while not limited to) the following topic areas:
- New methods, approaches and tools for the computational identification of ncRNAs;
- Evaluation and comparative study of existing tools and methods for ncRNAs;
- Going beyond well-studied ncRNAs i.e. other than miRNA, circRNAs and lncRNAs;
- Looking more potential functions of ncRNAs other than human cancers and neurodegenerative diseases;
- Potential roles of ncRNAs in different kingdoms of life including humans;
- Approaches to analyzing the interactions between different types of ncRNAs.
Moreover, considering the variations in existing methodology and mechanism of different existing tools, it is high time to standardize the prediction and identification of different ncRNAs; whether they be well-studied classes or less explored. One can compare the existing approaches to finalize a consensus approach, or sort out the best methods, or even attempt to develop new ones. Additionally, we should not restrict our work to just the identification or reporting of ncRNAs but attempt for well-annotated ncRNAs with validated functions in a biological context and the interactions among various ncRNA types and also with coding genes.
This Research Topic aims to collect Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Methods, Reviews, and Mini-Review articles discussing the new class and potentials of ncRNAs in different genera, including (while not limited to) the following topic areas:
- New methods, approaches and tools for the computational identification of ncRNAs;
- Evaluation and comparative study of existing tools and methods for ncRNAs;
- Going beyond well-studied ncRNAs i.e. other than miRNA, circRNAs and lncRNAs;
- Looking more potential functions of ncRNAs other than human cancers and neurodegenerative diseases;
- Potential roles of ncRNAs in different kingdoms of life including humans;
- Approaches to analyzing the interactions between different types of ncRNAs.
Keywords: Non-coding RNAs, microRNA, long non-coding RNA, circular RNA, tools, methods, approaches, evaluation
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