Genome-wide identification and characterization of novel lncRNAs in Ginkgo biloba leaves

To explore the overall long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) involved in major developmental stages of Ginkgo biloba leaves , we deeply sequenced samples of leaves from different developmental stages (from April to October) using strand-specific RNA sequencing (ssRNA-seq) menthod. We obtained 27.44 Gb raw data and identified 1323 novel lncRNAs. We also categorized the novel lncRNAs as intergenic, intronic, antisense and sense based on their location on theGinkgo biloba genome. Furthermore, lncRNAs targeted protein-coding genes were predicted and functional annotated. In addition, we constructed a network of interactions between ncRNAs (miRNAs, lncRNA) and mRNAs. Our results suggest that the identified novel lncRNAs are important in modulating development process of Ginkgo biloba, and provide a rich resource for further research on the function of these novel lncRNAs. seven developmental stages of leaves