The challenge of regulation in a minimal photoautotroph: non-coding RNAs in Prochlorococcus.

Prochlorococcus, an extremely small cyanobacterium that is very abundant in the world's oceans, has a very streamlined genome. On average, these cells have about 2,000 genes and very few regulatory proteins. The limited capability of regulation is thought to be a result of selection imposed by a relatively stable environment in combination with a very small genome.

Novel micro-RNAs and intermediates of micro-RNA biogenesis from moss.

Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are one class of small non-coding RNAs that have important regulatory roles in higher plants. Much less is known about their prevalence and function in lower land plants. Previously we cloned 100 non-structural small RNAs from the moss Physcomitrella patens but could annotate only 11 as miRNAs.