Análise multi-genotípica de RNAs longos não codificantes em cana-de-açúcar

Sugarcane plays a fundamental role in Brazilian agriculture, particularly in the production of bioenergy through the synthesis and accumulation of sucrose for first-generation ethanol production, as well as the use of its biomass for electricity generation or second-generation ethanol. Despite its importance, advancing the understanding of its genome has been challenging due to its complexity, high ploidy, heterozygosity, and aneuploidy. As an alternative, several research groups have directed their efforts towards studying the sugarcane transcriptome under various conditions. Nevertheless, studies on non-coding RNAs in the crop are limited, and there is a significant gap in understanding the variability of these genes across different sugarcane genotypes/varieties. In a previous project, our group inferred the sugarcane pan-transcriptome by assembling transcriptomes from 48 distinct genotypes and analyzing the variability in the composition of protein-coding transcripts from these transcriptomes. We identified transcripts common to all genotypes (core), shared by groups of genotypes (accessory), and exclusive to a single genotype. In the scope of this new project, we will explore this pan-transcriptome to create a multi-genotype catalog of long non-coding RNAs (which function as RNA and are not translated) and investigate their expression and co-expression patterns. This work aims to fill gaps in the knowledge of sugarcane non-coding RNAs, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the variability and functional role of these transcripts in different genetic contexts of the crop.