This contributed volume offers a comprehensive and detailed overview of the various aspects of long non-coding RNAs and discusses their emerging significance. Written by leading experts in the field, it motivates young researchers around the globe, and offers graduate and postgraduate students fascinating insights into genes and their regulation in eukaryotes and higher organisms.

The growth of human population has increased the demand for improved yield and quality of crops and horticultural plants. However, plant productivity continues to be threatened by stresses such as heat, cold, drought, heavy metals, UV radiations, bacterial and fungal pathogens, and insect pests. Long noncoding RNAs are associated with various developmental pathways, regulatory systems, abiotic and biotic stress responses and signaling, and can provide an alternative strategy for stress management in plants. Long Noncoding RNAs in Plants: Roles in development and stress provides the most recent advances in LncRNAs, including identification, characterization, and their potential applications and uses. Introductory chapters include the basic features and brief history of development of lncRNAs studies in plants. The book then provides the knowledge about the lncRNAs in various important agricultural and horticultural crops such as cereals, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and fiber crop cotton, and their roles and applications in abiotic and biotic stress management. Includes the latest advances and research in long noncoding RNAs in plants Provides alternative strategies for abiotic and biotic stress management in horticultural plants and agricultural crops Focuses on the application and uses of long noncoding RNAs

The 'RNA world' hypothesis that proposed RNA molecules as the first form of genetic material was put forwarded in the late 1980s but got impetus only recently when high-throughput sequencing technologies began unearthing new types of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) transcripts in higher eukaryotes. Till then, research on ncRNAs were primarily confined to transfer RNAs and, ribosomal RNAs, which act as the messengers of the protein synthesis and allow translation of genetic information encoded by DNA into proteins. In recent years, the integration of high-throughput genomic technologies with molecular biology and omics sciences have revolutionized the fields of ncRNA research by identifying the hidden treasures of several new types of ncRNAs encoded in the genomes of several organisms and decrypting their versatile roles in gene expression and epigenetics. Among these, two small endogenous ncRNAs, namely microRNAs (miRNAs) and piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) that drive argonaute (AGO) family of proteins namely Ago and Piwi respectively and silence the expression of genes have geared up molecular and disease biology research in recent years. Both miRNAs and piRNAs are expressed in higher eukaryotes, including human and act as cellular rheostats by regulating the expression of significant fraction of genes encoded in the genomes. The aberrant expressions of these small ncRNAs within the cells cause various abnormalities and diseases including cancer. Manipulating their aberrant expression or function can serve as potential novel diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and bring in new therapeutic strategies for multiple human diseases. This can be further translated from bench-side to clinic for improving human health. This book captures the essence of the pioneering work of some of the world's leading researchers showcasing the scientific excitements surrounding the evolving regulatory roles of miRNAs and piRNAs highlighting their potential towards the diagnosis and therapeutics of various diseases. The book is geared towards scientists, students, and will particularly appeal to active investigators in RNA biology, molecular biology, cancer research as well as clinicians and will provide them a comprehensive view of recent discoveries and research progresses to utilize miRNAs, piRNAs and their interacting proteins, Ago and Piwi for diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutics of diseases.

Epigenetics in Psychiatry, Second Edition covers all major areas of psychiatry in which extensive epigenetic research has been performed, fully encompassing a diverse and maturing field, including drug addiction, bipolar disorder, epidemiology, cognitive disorders, and the uses of putative epigenetic-based psychotropic drugs. Uniquely, each chapter correlates epigenetics with relevant advances across genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. The book acts as a catalyst for further research in this growing area of psychiatry. This new edition has been fully revised to address recent advances in epigenetic understanding of psychiatric disorders, evoking data consortia (e.g., CommonMind, ATAC-seq), single cell analysis, and epigenome-wide association studies to empower new research. The book also examines epigenetic effects of the microbiome on psychiatric disorders, and the use of neuroimaging in studying the role of epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression. Ongoing advances in epigenetic therapy are explored in-depth. Fully revised to discuss new areas of research across neuronal stem cells, cognitive disorders, and transgenerational epigenetics in psychiatric disease Relates broad advances in psychiatric epigenetics to a modern understanding of the genome, transcriptome, and proteins Catalyzes knowledge discovery in both basic epigenetic biology and epigenetic targets for drug discovery Provides guidance in research methods and protocols, as well how to employ data from consortia, single cell analysis, and epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) Features chapter contributions from international leaders in the field

Cancer and Noncoding RNAs offers an in-depth exploration of noncoding RNAs and their role in epigenetic regulation of complex human disease, most notably cancer. In addition to examining microRNAs, this volume provides a unique evaluation of more recently profiled noncoding RNAs now implicated in carcinogenesis, including lncRNAs, piRNAs, circRNAs, and tRNAs, identifying differences in function between these noncoding RNAs and how they interact with the rest of the epigenome. A broad range of chapters from experts in the field detail epigenetic regulation of various cancer types, along with recent next generation sequencing technologies, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and bioinformatics approaches. This book will help researchers in genomic medicine and cancer biology better understand the role of noncoding RNAs in epigenetics, aiding in the development of useful biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and new RNA-based disease therapies. Provides a comprehensive analysis of noncoding RNAs implicated in epigenetic regulation of gene expression and chromatin dynamics Educates researchers and graduate students by highlighting, in addition to miRNAs, a range of noncoding RNAs newly associated with carcinogenesis Applies current knowledge of noncoding RNAs and epigenomics towards developing cancer and RNA-based disease therapies Features contributions by leading experts in the field

General inspection of a role performed in the cell by RNAs allows us to distinguish three major groups of transcripts: I. protein-coding mRNAs, II. non-coding housekeeping and III. regulatory RNAs. The housekeeping RNAs include RNA classes that are generally, constitutively expressed and whose presence is required for normal function and viability of the cells. On the other hand, a group of regulatory RNAs includes RNA species that are expressed at certain stages of organism development or cell differentiation or as a response to external stimuli and can affect expression of other genes on the levels of transcription or translation. Non-coding RNA transcripts form a heterogeneous class of RNAs that can not be characterized by a single specific function. Initially, the term non-coding RNA (ncRNA) was used primarily to describe polyadenylated and a capped eukaryotic RNAs transcribed by RNA polymerase II, but lacking long open reading frames. Now, this definition can be extended to cover all RNA transcripts that do not show protein-coding capacity and is sometimes used to describe any RNA that does not encode protein, including introns. This book is an in-depth look at the function of Non-Coding RNAs and their relationship to Molecular Biology and Molecular Biology.

The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to the discoverers of RNA interference, Andrew Fire and Craig Mello. This prize, which follows “RNA” Nobels for splicing and RNA catalysis, highlights just one class of recently discovered non-protein coding RNAs. Remarkably, non-coding RNAs are thought to outnumber protein coding genes in mammals by perhaps as much as four-fold. In fact, it appears that the complexity of an organism correlates with the fraction of its genome devoted to non-protein coding RNAs. Essential biological processes as diverse as cell differentiation, suppression of infecting viruses and parasitic tra- posons, higher-level organization of eukaryotic chromosomes, and gene expression are found to be largely directed by non-protein coding RNAs. Currently, bioinformatic, high-throughput sequencing, and biochemical approaches are identifying an increasing number of these RNAs. Unfortunately, our ability to characterize the molecular details of these RNAs is significantly lacking. The biophysical study of these RNAs is an emergent field that is unraveling the molecular underpinnings of how RNA fulfills its multitude of roles in sustaining cellular life. The resulting understanding of the physical and chemical processes at the molecular level is critical to our ability to harness RNA for use in biotechnology and human therapy, a prospect that has recently spawned a multi-billion dollar industry.