Mango is a major tropical fruit in the world and is known as the king of fruits because of its flavor, aroma, taste, and nutritional values. Although various regulatory roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been investigated in many plants, there is yet an absence of such study in mango. This is the first study to provide information on non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) of mango with the aims of identifying miRNAs and lncRNAs and discovering their potential functions by interaction prediction of the miRNAs, lncRNAs, and their target genes. In this analysis, about a hundred miRNAs and over 7,000 temperature-responsive lncRNAs were identified and the target genes of these ncRNAs were characterized. According to these results, the newly identified mango ncRNAs, like other plant ncRNAs, have a potential role in biological and metabolic pathways including plant growth and developmental process, pathogen defense mechanism, and stress-responsive process. Moreover, mango lncRNAs can target miRNAs to reduce the stability of lncRNAs and can function as molecular decoys or sponges of miRNAs. This paper would provide information about miRNAs and lncRNAs of mango and would help for further investigation of the specific functions of mango ncRNAs through wet lab experiments.

Background Mango is a major tropical fruit in the world and is known as the king of fruits because of its flavour, aroma, taste, and nutritional values. Moreover, various parts of mango trees have been used for medical purposes. Although various regulatory roles of miRNAs and lncRNAs have been investigated in many plants, there is yet an absence of study in mango. This is the first study to provide information on ncRNAs of mango with the aim of identifying miRNAs and lncRNAs of mango and discovering of their potential functions by the interaction prediction of the miRNAs, lncRNAs and their target genes. Results In this analysis, 104 miRNAs and 7,610 temperature responsive lncRNAs were identified and the target genes of these ncRNAs were characterized. By analysing the interaction of miRNAs and their target genes, it was observed that miRNAs are mainly involved in growth, development, and stress responses of mango. For the lncRNAs, cold responsive lncRNAs bound to low temperature responsive proteins expressed at low temperature stress. GO enrichment analysis of heat and cold responsive lncRNAs revealed that they involved in all three basic processes; biological process, cellular component, and molecular function. Moreover, mango lncRNAs can target miRNAs to reduce the stability of lncRNAs and can function as molecular decoys or sponges of miRNAs. Conclusion This paper would provide the new information about miRNAs and lncRNAs of mango and would help for the further investigation of mango ncRNAs.