Summary Genome sequencing projects are discovering millions of genetic variants in humans, and interpretation of their functional effects is essential for understanding the genetic basis of variation in human traits. Here we report sequencing and deep analysis of mRNA and miRNA from lymphoblastoid cell lines of 462 individuals from the 1000 Genomes Project – the first uniformly processed RNA-seq data from multiple human populations with high-quality genome sequences. We discovered extremely widespread genetic variation affecting regulation of the majority of genes, with transcript structure and expression level variation being equally common but genetically largely independent. Our characterization of causal regulatory variation sheds light on cellular mechanisms of regulatory and loss-of-function variation, and allowed us to infer putative causal variants for dozens of disease-associated loci. Altogether, this study provides a deep understanding of the cellular mechanisms of transcriptome variation and of the landscape of functional variants in the human genome.

microRNAs (miRNAs) are a large class of small non-coding RNAs which post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of a large fraction of all animal genes and are important in a wide range of biological processes. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing allow miRNA detection at unprecedented sensitivity, but the computational task of accurately identifying the miRNAs in the background of sequenced RNAs remains challenging. For this purpose, we have designed miRDeep2, a substantially improved algorithm which identifies canonical and non-canonical miRNAs such as those derived from transposable elements and informs on high-confidence candidates that are detected in multiple independent samples. Analyzing data from seven animal species representing the major animal clades, miRDeep2 identified miRNAs with an accuracy of 98.6–99.9% and reported hundreds of novel miRNAs. To test the accuracy of miRDeep2, we knocked down the miRNA biogenesis pathway in a human cell line and sequenced small RNAs before and after. The vast majority of the >100 novel miRNAs expressed in this cell line were indeed specifically downregulated, validating most miRDeep2 predictions. Last, a new miRNA expression profiling routine, low time and memory usage and user-friendly interactive graphic output can make miRDeep2 useful to a wide range of researchers.

The capacity of highly parallel sequencing technologies to detect small RNAs at unprecedented depth suggests their value in systematically identifying microRNAs (miRNAs). However, the identification of miRNAs from the large pool of sequenced transcripts from a single deep sequencing run remains a major challenge. Here, we present an algorithm, miRDeep, which uses a probabilistic model of miRNA biogenesis to score compatibility of the position and frequency of sequenced RNA with the secondary structure of the miRNA precursor. We demonstrate its accuracy and robustness using published Caenorhabditis elegans data and data we generated by deep sequencing human and dog RNAs. miRDeep reports altogether approximately 230 previously unannotated miRNAs, of which four novel C. elegans miRNAs are validated by northern blot analysis.

Small noncoding RNAs function in concert with Argonaute (Ago) proteins to regulate gene expression at the level of transcription, mRNA stability, or translation. Ago proteins bind small RNAs and form the core of silencing complexes. Here, we report the analysis of small RNAs associated with human Ago1 and Ago2 revealed by immunoprecipitation and deep sequencing. Among the reads, we find small RNAs originating from the small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) ACA45. Moreover, processing of ACA45 requires Dicer activity but is independent of Drosha/DGCR8. Using bioinformatic prediction algorithms and luciferase reporter assays, we uncover the mediator subunit CDC2L6 as one potential mRNA target of ACA45 small RNAs, suggesting a role for ACA45-processing products in posttranscriptional gene silencing. We further identify a number of human snoRNAs with microRNA (miRNA)-like processing signatures. We have, therefore, identified a class of small RNAs in human cells that originate from snoRNAs and can function like miRNAs.

RNA sequencing is an increasingly popular technology for genome-wide analysis of transcript sequence and abundance. However, understanding of the sources of technical and interlaboratory variation is still limited. To address this, the GEUVADIS consortium sequenced mRNAs and small RNAs of lymphoblastoid cell lines of 465 individuals in seven sequencing centers, with a large number of replicates. The variation between laboratories appeared to be considerably smaller than the already limited biological variation. Laboratory effects were mainly seen in differences in insert size and GC content and could be adequately corrected for. In small-RNA sequencing, the microRNA (miRNA) content differed widely between samples owing to competitive sequencing of rRNA fragments. This did not affect relative quantification of miRNAs. We conclude that distributing RNA sequencing among different laboratories is feasible, given proper standardization and randomization procedures. We provide a set of quality measures and guidelines for assessing technical biases in RNA-seq data.

BackgroundMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are established regulators of development, cell identity and disease. Although nearly two thousand human miRNA genes are known and new ones are continuously discovered, no attempt has been made to gauge the total miRNA content of the human genome.ResultsEmploying an innovative computational method on massively pooled small RNA sequencing data, we report 2,469 novel human miRNA candidates of which 1,098 are validated by in-house and published experiments. Almost 300 candidates are robustly expressed in a neuronal cell system and are regulated during differentiation or when biogenesis factors Dicer, Drosha, DGCR8 or Ago2 are silenced. To improve expression profiling, we devised a quantitative miRNA capture system. In a kidney cell system, 400 candidates interact with DGCR8 at transcript positions that suggest miRNA hairpin recognition, and 1,000 of the new miRNA candidates interact with Ago1 or Ago2, indicating that they are directly bound by miRNA effector proteins. From kidney cell CLASH experiments, in which miRNA-target pairs are ligated and sequenced, we observe hundreds of interactions between novel miRNAs and mRNA targets. The novel miRNA candidates are specifically but lowly expressed, raising the possibility that not all may be functional. Interestingly, the majority are evolutionarily young and overrepresented in the human brain.ConclusionsIn summary, we present evidence that the complement of human miRNA genes is substantially larger than anticipated, and that more are likely to be discovered in the future as more tissues and experimental conditions are sequenced to greater depth.

Freshwater planarian flatworms possess uncanny regenerative capacities mediated by abundant and collectively totipotent adult stem cells. Key functions of these cells during regeneration and tissue homeostasis have been shown to depend on PIWI, a molecule required for Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) expression in planarians. Nevertheless, the full complement of piRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) in this organism has yet to be defined. Here we report on the large-scale cloning and sequencing of small RNAs from the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea, yielding altogether millions of sequenced, unique small RNAs. We show that piRNAs are in part organized in genomic clusters and that they share characteristic features with mammalian and fly piRNAs. We further identify 61 novel miRNA genes and thus double the number of known planarian miRNAs. Sequencing, as well as quantitative PCR of small RNAs, uncovered 10 miRNAs enriched in planarian stem cells. These miRNAs are downregulated in animals in which stem cells have been abrogated by irradiation, and thus constitute miRNAs likely associated with specific stem-cell functions. Altogether, we present the first comprehensive small RNA analysis in animals belonging to the third animal superphylum, the Lophotrochozoa, and single out a number of miRNAs that may function in regeneration. Several of these miRNAs are deeply conserved in animals.microRNAs ͉ miRNAs ͉ piRNAs ͉ regeneration ͉ stem cells P lanarians have become a molecularly tractable model system in which to study regeneration, tissue homeostasis, and stem-cell biology (1). Planaria are free-living, triploblastic flatworms of the phylum Platyhelminthes, which is presently considered to belong to the superphylum Lophotrochozoa. Model systems for modern molecular and developmental biology have almost exclusively focused on the other 2 superphyla, i.e., the Deuterostomes (which includes vertebrates) and the Ecdysozoa (e.g., Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster). Unlike these model systems, planarians possess remarkable regeneration abilities. Decapitation, for example, results in the complete regeneration of the head within 7 days after amputation. Such robust restoration of missing body parts is mediated by adult stem cells known as neoblasts (2). Of the thousands of known planarian species, Schmidtea mediterranea is arguably the species of choice for modern molecular biology and high-throughput, genome-wide approaches because it is diploid, it exists in sexual and asexual strains, and its genome has recently been sequenced and annotated (3). The size of its genome is roughly a third of the human genome, and Ϸ80% of the Ϸ20,000 annotated planarian genes have orthologs in humans. Moreover, by morphology alone, neoblasts and their immediate division progeny comprise Ϸ25% of all cells in the adult animal (4). In addition, RNAi screens have identified hundreds of genes specifically linked to planarian regeneration and stem-cell biology (5). Many of these genes are conserved in humans, and thus understanding planarian ...

Small non-coding RNAs have gained substantial attention due to their roles in animal development and human disorders. Among them, microRNAs are special because individual gene sequences are conserved across the animal kingdom. In addition, unique and mechanistically well understood features can clearly distinguish bona fide miRNAs from the myriad other small RNAs generated by cells. However, making this distinction is not a common practice and, thus, not surprisingly, the heterogeneous quality of available miRNA complements has become a major concern in microRNA research. We addressed this by extensively expanding our curated microRNA gene database - MirGeneDB - to 45 organisms, encompassing a wide phylogenetic swath of animal evolution. By consistently annotating and naming 10,899 microRNA genes in these organisms, we show that previous microRNA annotations contained not only many false positives, but surprisingly lacked >2000 bona fide microRNAs. Indeed, curated microRNA complements of closely related organisms are very similar and can be used to reconstruct ancestral miRNA repertoires. MirGeneDB represents a robust platform for microRNA-based research, providing deeper and more significant insights into the biology and evolution of miRNAs as well as biomedical and biomarker research. MirGeneDB is publicly and freely available at http://mirgenedb.org/.