Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are a group of RNAs encoded within a cell that have transcript complementarity to other RNA transcripts. NATs have been identified in multiple eukaryotes, including humans, mice, yeast and several...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Collani Silvio, Barcaccia Gianni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2012-09-01
Series:Plant Methods
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.plantmethods.com/content/8/1/37
_version_ 1830360033899053056
author Collani Silvio
Barcaccia Gianni
author_facet Collani Silvio
Barcaccia Gianni
author_sort Collani Silvio
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are a group of RNAs encoded within a cell that have transcript complementarity to other RNA transcripts. NATs have been identified in multiple eukaryotes, including humans, mice, yeast and several plants, and are known to play crucial roles in gene regulation and modification via RNA interference, alternative splicing and genomic imprinting. NATs are also involved in several human diseases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We describe a novel method to detect the occurrence of target NATs in specific plant tissues. This method differs from the others currently used in molecular biology laboratories for a number of reasons, particularly the simplicity and versatility of application, low cost and lower material requirement. We demonstrate that NATs can be detected by using diluted cDNA, avoiding the need for a large amount of RNA, thus differing from basic techniques, such as Northern blot hybridisation and reverse-transcription PCR amplification. Furthermore, our method also allows the precise detection of long NATs and their cloning into plasmid vectors for downstream applications. We also reported the first case of a tissue-specific NAT occurring in <it>Oleaceae</it> family and, the antisense orientation of this transcript, allows the splicing of two introns otherwise impossible in the sense orientation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This method is the first that combines the polymerisation and cleavage activity of DNA polymerase and exonuclease enzymes, respectively, to discover NATs in living organisms. It may simplify the discovery of NATs in plants providing a new strategy for an easy identification and characterization of this group of RNA molecules. Furthermore, since NATs are found in multiple eukaryotes, our method can be easily applied to a wide range of organisms, including human, mice and yeast.</p>
first_indexed 2024-12-20T03:10:03Z
format Article
id doaj.art-a6a44d890b5049a9b3a3c5687222c8d5
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1746-4811
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-20T03:10:03Z
publishDate 2012-09-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series Plant Methods
spelling doaj.art-a6a44d890b5049a9b3a3c5687222c8d52022-12-21T19:55:30ZengBMCPlant Methods1746-48112012-09-01813710.1186/1746-4811-8-37Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcriptsCollani SilvioBarcaccia Gianni<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are a group of RNAs encoded within a cell that have transcript complementarity to other RNA transcripts. NATs have been identified in multiple eukaryotes, including humans, mice, yeast and several plants, and are known to play crucial roles in gene regulation and modification via RNA interference, alternative splicing and genomic imprinting. NATs are also involved in several human diseases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We describe a novel method to detect the occurrence of target NATs in specific plant tissues. This method differs from the others currently used in molecular biology laboratories for a number of reasons, particularly the simplicity and versatility of application, low cost and lower material requirement. We demonstrate that NATs can be detected by using diluted cDNA, avoiding the need for a large amount of RNA, thus differing from basic techniques, such as Northern blot hybridisation and reverse-transcription PCR amplification. Furthermore, our method also allows the precise detection of long NATs and their cloning into plasmid vectors for downstream applications. We also reported the first case of a tissue-specific NAT occurring in <it>Oleaceae</it> family and, the antisense orientation of this transcript, allows the splicing of two introns otherwise impossible in the sense orientation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This method is the first that combines the polymerisation and cleavage activity of DNA polymerase and exonuclease enzymes, respectively, to discover NATs in living organisms. It may simplify the discovery of NATs in plants providing a new strategy for an easy identification and characterization of this group of RNA molecules. Furthermore, since NATs are found in multiple eukaryotes, our method can be easily applied to a wide range of organisms, including human, mice and yeast.</p>http://www.plantmethods.com/content/8/1/37Natural antisense transcripts (NATs)Plant NATsOlive
spellingShingle Collani Silvio
Barcaccia Gianni
Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts
Plant Methods
Natural antisense transcripts (NATs)
Plant NATs
Olive
title Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts
title_full Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts
title_fullStr Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts
title_full_unstemmed Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts
title_short Development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts
title_sort development of a rapid and inexpensive method to reveal natural antisense transcripts
topic Natural antisense transcripts (NATs)
Plant NATs
Olive
url http://www.plantmethods.com/content/8/1/37
work_keys_str_mv AT collanisilvio developmentofarapidandinexpensivemethodtorevealnaturalantisensetranscripts
AT barcacciagianni developmentofarapidandinexpensivemethodtorevealnaturalantisensetranscripts