Comparative Expression Dynamics of Intergenic Long Noncoding RNAs in the Genus Drosophila.

Thousands of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been annotated in eukaryotic genomes, but comparative transcriptomic approaches are necessary to understand their biological impact and evolution. To facilitate such comparative studies in Drosophila, we identified and characterized lncRNAs in a second Drosophilid-the evolutionary model Drosophila pseudoobscura Using RNA-Seq and computational filtering of protein-coding potential, we identified 1,589 intergenic lncRNA loci in D. pseudoobscura We surveyed multiple sex-specific developmental stages and found, like in Drosophila melanogaster, increasingly prolific lncRNA expression through male development and an overrepresentation of lncRNAs in the testes.