Skip to main content

Prediction of Structural Noncoding RNAs With RNAz

  • Protocol
Comparative Genomics

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology™ ((MIMB,volume 395))

Summary

The function of many noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) depend on a defined secondary structure. RNAz detects evolutionarily conserved and thermodynamically stable RNA secondary structures in multiple sequence alignments and, thus, efficiently filters for candidate ncRNAs. In this chapter, we provide a step-by-step guide on how to use RNAz. Starting with basic concepts, we also cover advanced analysis techniques and, as an example for a large scale application, demonstrate a complete screen of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Frith, M. C., Pheasant, M., and Mattick, J. S. (2005) The amazing complexity of the human transcriptome. Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 13, 894–897.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Martens, J. A., Laprade, L., and Winston, F. (2004) Intergenic transcription is required to repress the Saccheromyces cerevisiae SER3 gene. Nature 429, 571–574.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Chooniedass-Kothari, S., Emberley, E., Hamedani, M. K., et al. (2004) The steroid receptor RNA activator is the first functional RNA encoding a protein. FEBS Lett 566, 43–47.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Rivas, E. and Eddy, S. R. (2001) Noncoding RNA gene detection using comparative sequence analysis. BMC Bioinformatics 2, 8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Rivas, E., Klein, R. J., Jones, T. A., and Eddy, S. R. (2001) Computational identification of noncoding RNAs in E. coli by comparative genomics. Curr. Biol. 11, 1369–1373.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. McCutcheon, J. P. and Eddy, S. R. (2003) Computational identification of non-coding RNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by comparative genomics. Nucleic Acids Res. 31, 4119–4128.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Washietl, S., Hofacker, I. L., and Stadler, P. F. (2005) Fast and reliable prediction of noncoding RNAs. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 2454–2459.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Zuker, M. and Stiegler, P. (1981) Optimal computer folding of large RNA sequences using thermodynamics and auxiliary information. Nucleic Acids Res. 9, 133–148.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hofacker, I. L., Fontana, W., Stadler, P. F., Bonhoeffer, L. S., Tacker, M., and Schuster, P. (1994) Fast folding and comparison of RNA secondary structures. Monatsh. Chem. 125, 167–188.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Hofacker, I. L., Fekete, M., and Stadler, P. F. (2002) Secondary structure prediction for aligned RNA sequences. J. Mol. Biol. 319, 1059–1066.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Thompson, J. D., Higgins, D. G., and Gibson, T. J. (1994) CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Res. 22, 4673–4680.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Gardner, P. P., Wilm, A., and Washietl, S. (2005) A benchmark of multiple sequence alignment programs upon structural RNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 33, 2433–2439.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Steigele, S., Huber, W., Stocists, C., Stadler, P. F., and Nieselt, K. (2007) Comparative Analysis of Structured RNAs in S. cerevisiae Indicates a Multitude of Different Functions. BMC Genomics, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hofacker, I. L., Priwitzer, B., and Stadler, P. F. (2004) Prediction of locally stable RNA secondary structures for genome-wide surveys. Bioinformatics 20, 186–190.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Griffiths-Jones, S., Moxon, S., Marshall, M., Khanna, A., Eddy, S. R., and Bateman, A. (2005) Rfam: annotating non-coding RNAs in complete genomes. Nucleic Acids Res. 33, D121–D124.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Eddy, S. R. (2002) A memory-efficient dynamic programming algorithm for optimal alignment of a sequence to an RNA secondary structure. BMC Bioinformatics 3, 18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Washietl, S. and Hofacker, I. L. (2004) Consensus folding of aligned sequences as a new measure for the detection of functional RNAs by comparative genomics. J. Mol. Biol. 342, 19–30.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Ivo L. Hofacker and Peter F. Stadler for helpful discussions and assistance during the development of RNAz. This work was supported by Austrian GEN-AU project “noncoding RNA.”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Humana Press Inc.

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Washietl, S. (2007). Prediction of Structural Noncoding RNAs With RNAz. In: Bergman, N.H. (eds) Comparative Genomics. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 395. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-514-5_32

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-514-5_32

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-693-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-514-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics