comTAR: a web tool for the prediction and characterization of conserved microRNA targets in plants

CHOROSTECKI, U; PALATNIK, J.F.

BIOINFORMATICS (OXFORD, ENGLAND)

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2014 p. 1 - 2

1367-4803

Motivation: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are major regulators of gene expressionin plants and animals. They recognize their target messengerRNAs (mRNAs) by sequence complementarity and guide them tocleavage or translational arrest. So far, the prediction of plantmiRNA?target pairs generally relies on the use of empirical parametersdeduced from known miRNA?target interactions.Results: We developed comTAR, a web tool for the prediction ofmiRNA targets that is mainly based on the conservation of the potentialregulation in different species. We used data generated from apipeline applied to transcript datasets of 33 angiosperms that wasused to build a database of potential miRNA targets of differentplant species. The database contains information describing eachmiRNA?target pair, their function and evolutionary conservation,while the results are displayed in a user-friendly interface. The toolalso allows the search using new miRNAs.Availability and implementation: The Web site is free to all users,with no login requirements, at http://rnabiology.ibr-conicet.gov.ar/comtar.