TarHunter

TarHunter predicts conserved microRNA (miRNA) targets and endogenous target mimics (eTMs) across plant species using cross-species conservation filtering and degradome data integration to improve prediction precision and recall.

Key Features:

• Cross-Species Conservation Filter: Filters predicted miRNA targets across plant species using a strict conservation criterion to reduce false positives.
• Endogenous Target Mimic (eTM) Prediction: Predicts endogenous target mimics (eTMs) through sequence similarity searches that identify molecules mimicking miRNA target sites.
• High Recall and Precision Rates: Achieves higher recall or precision rates than existing tools in comparative analyses.
• Integration with Degradome Analysis: Integrates degradome sequencing data to validate predicted miRNA targets and identify non-canonical target sites.

Scientific Applications:

• Functional Genomics: Enables exploration of the functional roles of conserved and less conserved miRNAs in plants.
• Comparative Plant Biology: Facilitates cross-species comparative studies of miRNA-target conservation and evolutionary analyses.
• Regulatory Network Analysis: Supports mapping of miRNA regulatory networks by predicting targets and eTMs involved in post-transcriptional regulation.

Methodology:

TarHunter applies sequence alignment techniques and conservation analysis to predict miRNA targets, filters potential targets based on evolutionary conservation across species, identifies eTMs via sequence similarity searches, and validates predictions using degradome sequencing data.