Identification of short open reading frames in plant genomes

The roles of short/small open reading frames (sORFs) have been increasingly recognized in recent years due to the rapidly growing number of sORFs identified in various organisms due to the development and application of the Ribo-Seq technique, which sequences the ribosome-protected footprints (RPFs) of the translating mRNAs. However, special attention should be paid to RPFs used to identify sORFs in plants due to their small size (similar to 30 nt) and the high complexity and repetitiveness of the plant genome, particularly for polyploidy species. In this work, we compare different approaches to the identification of plant sORFs, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and provide a guide for choosing different methods in plant sORF studies.

Automated summary

The increasing recognition of the roles of short/small open reading frames (sORFs) in recent years is attributed to the development and application of the Ribo-Seq technique, which allows for the identification of sORFs in various organisms. However, caution should be exercised when using RPFs to identify sORFs in plants, particularly for polyploidy species, due to the small size and complexity of the plant genome. This study compares different approaches to the identification of plant sORFs, discusses their advantages and disadvantages, and provides a guide for researchers in choosing the appropriate method for plant sORF studies.