Systematic computational analysis of potential rnai regulation in toxoplasma gondii

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is the mechanism through which RNA interferes with the production of other RNAs in a sequence specific manner. Micro RNA (miRNA) is a type of RNA which is transcribed as pri-miRNAs and processed to premiRNAs in the nucleus. These pre-miRNAs are then exported from the nucleus and processed in the cytoplasm to double stranded RNA with one strand providing target specificity.. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic apicomplexan which causes several diseases. T. gondii is a good candidate for computational efforts with its small and publicly available genome files and extensive information about its gene structure. Although the existence of RNA interference in T. gondii is being debated, establishment of its complete potential RNAi regulatory network may be beneficial for further investigations into the topic. ©2009 IEEE.