Mapping the C. elegans noncoding transcriptome with a whole-genome tiling microarray.

The number of annotated protein coding genes in the genome of Caenorhabditis elegans is similar to that of other animals, but the extent of its non-protein-coding transcriptome remains unknown. Expression profiling on whole-genome tiling microarrays applied to a mixed-stage C. elegans population verified the expression of 71% of all annotated exons. Only a small fraction (11%) of the polyadenylated transcription is non-annotated and appears to consist of approximately 3200 missed or alternative exons and 7800 small transcripts of unknown function (TUFs). Almost half (44%) of the detected transcriptional output is non-polyadenylated and probably not protein coding, and of this, 70% overlaps the boundaries of protein-coding genes in a complex manner. Specific analysis of small non-polyadenylated transcripts verified 97% of all annotated small ncRNAs and suggested that the transcriptome contains approximately 1200 small (<500 nt) unannotated noncoding loci. After combining overlapping transcripts, we estimate that at least 70% of the total C. elegans genome is transcribed.