Fig. 2

MicroRNA identification pipeline and microRNA population characteristics. a Deep sequencing of short RNAs from mature RBCs was performed using the Illumina HiSeq technology. Raw sequences were mapped to the genome, filtered through miRDeep, and categorized. Identified microRNA loci were cross-referenced with miRBase (v. 21) and UCSC Genome Browser (hg 38) to distinguish between candidate novel and known microRNAs. b Relative percentages (log base 10) of read numbers for top 10 microRNAs among five different samples. Percentages are averages based on total number of known, mature microRNA reads for each sample. c Relative percentage representation of genomic location for both known and putative microRNAs. Listed genomic locations for mature microRNA sequences are relative to RefSeq annotated transcripts in UCSC genome browser (hg38). For mature microRNA sequences spanning both introns and coding region, or UTR and coding regions of alternative transcripts, sequence is listed in coding region. d Relative percentage representation of sequence conservation for both known and putative microRNAs. Conservation of mature microRNA sequence indicates exact sequence alignment in listed number of species (from human, chimp, rhesus monkey, dog, mouse, and zebrafish), allowing for up to one base mismatch outside of the microRNA seed sequence (nucleotides 2–8), and no mismatches within the seed sequence