21.02 – 04.03.2025 | University of Évora & University of Lisbon
Kisun Pokharel, a researcher from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and a member of EU-LI-PHE WG2, WG3, and WG5, successfully completed a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) within the EU-LI-PHE COST Action at the University of Évora and the University of Lisbon.
The STSM grant facilitated advancements in the livestock small non-coding RNA (snRNA) annotation project, initially launched under the FAANG-Europe. Originally focused on Bos taurus, the project expanded to six species, namely Bos taurus, Ovis aries, Sus scrofa, Gallus gallus, Equus caballus, and Capra hircus. Kisun compiled over 10,000 publicly available snRNA datasets from the European Nucleotide Archive, refining them to 7,973 samples with over 5 million reads, marking a significant improvement from previous studies based on only 3,000 samples.
During the STSM, Kisun also developed a novel miRNA analysis pipeline for reindeer, a species lacking prior miRNA resources. Implementing the pipeline on Finland’s CSC server, he conducted preliminary quality checks and alignment, with further results pending.
His research efforts culminated in the submission of an abstract, “A Comprehensive miRNA Resource for Livestock Genomics,” co-authored with 20 researchers from 10 institutions, for the ISAG 2025 conference. The STSM also fostered new collaborations with Prof. Andreia Amaral’s lab, particularly in the field of sheep genomics, opening possibilities for future joint research. We congratulate our member for successful work and networking during this STSM!
