Genome-wide identification and functional analysis of lincRNAs acting as miRNA targets or decoys in maize

Background Long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) are endogenous non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that are transcribed from ‘intergenic’ regions of the genome and may play critical roles in regulating gene expression through multiple RNA-mediated mechanisms. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded small ncRNAs of approximately 21–24 nucleotide (nt) that are involved in transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation. While miRNAs functioning as mRNA repressors have been studied in detail, the influence of miRNAs on lincRNAs has seldom been investigated in plants.