Genome-wide identification of long non coding RNAs in Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum, causative agent of malaria, is endangering life of millions of people annually. This parasite is highly capable of evading human immune system and developed resistance to many antimalarial drugs. Genome analysis of this parasite has shown signs of involvement of non-coding RNAs in integral biology of parasite aiding in their survival, virulence and resistance development. This has encouraged us to identify the genome-wide repertoire of non-coding RNA especially long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in this parasite. We have identified 426 lncRNAs in P. falciparum using in-silico RNA-sequencing analysis tools and in-house perl scripts. The identified lncRNAs were annotated to depict their differential expression in different life-cycle stages of P. falciparum and the lncRNAs were found to have a stage-dependent expression. Analysis has revealed 5, 2 and 8 unique lncRNAs in late trophozoite, schizont and gametocyte V stage respectively. This study aims to identify and annotate considerable amount of genome-wide lncRNAs in P. falciparum and indicates significant roles of these lncRNAs in different life-cycle stages in the human host. The dataset can be used to identify and annotate other lncRNAs and understand the functions of these lncRNAs in the pathogenecity of the parasite.