TAPIR, a web server for the prediction of plant microRNA targets, including target mimics

Abstract

We present a new web server called TAPIR, designed for the prediction of plant microRNA targets. The server offers the possibility to search for plant miRNA targets using a fast and a precise algorithm. The precise option is much slower but guarantees to find less perfectly paired miRNA-target duplexes. Furthermore, the precise option allows the prediction of target mimics, which are characterized by a miRNA-target duplex having a large loop, making them undetectable by traditional tools. Availability: The TAPIR web server can be accessed at: http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/webtools/tapir. Contact: yves.vandepeer@psb.vib-ugent.be. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press.