Genome-wide comparisons and extrapolations of AU-rich elements in Plants with Homo sapiens

The Adenylate-Uridylate Rich elements (AREs) are adenine and uracil abundant sequences, established in ephemeral mRNAs, principally present in the 39 untranslated region (3` UTR). AREs are widely accepted as a cause of high turnover of the mRNAs containing them (Bakheet, 2001; Barreau, 2005; Shaw and Kamen, 1986). The mammalian ARE-mRNAs primarily translate into nuclear transcription factors, oncoproteins, cytokines, and G-protein-coupled receptors which indicates their indispensable role in the regulation of gene transcription during cell growth and differentiation, and the immune response (Chen and Shyu, 1995; Wilson et al., 1999). The present study is an attempt to comprehensively analyze the eloquent presence of AU rich elements in genome, transcriptome and 3`UTR of three important plant species ( Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa and Zea mays) and compare the statistics of putative ARE motifs in plants with H.sapiens. Statistical analysis of genome-wide putative AU-rich elements revealed the explicit presence of ARE motifs in plants. This is the first study that analyses the presence of Adenylate-Uridylate Rich elements (AREs) in three different plants which can be further validated through experiments.