Our lab has published in eLIFE a study on long non-coding RNAs: “Individual long non-coding RNAs have no overt functions in zebrafish embryogenesis, viability and fertility”.
The functions of long-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) remain a mystery. In this study 25 zebrafish lncRNAs candidate genes were selected based on their conservation, expression pattern and proximity to developmental regulators. CRISPR-Cas9 was used to generate a total of 32 deletion alleles across these 25 lncRNAs. They found that none of these genes are required for embryogenesis, viability or fertility. This study suggests that lncRNAs don’t have obvious roles in embryogenesis, viability or fertility indicating they may have more redundant, subtle or context dependent roles.
Congratulations to lead author Mehdi, as well as Kathryn and Lindsey!