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Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is emerging as one of the serious public health issues in both developed and developing counties. Here, we surveyed the worldwide population differentiation in T2D-associated variants and assessed the genetic burden of the disease in an ongoing Tehran Cardio-Metabolic Genetic Study (TCGS) cohort represented the Iranian population. We found multiple SNPs that were significantly depleted or enriched in at least one of the five populations of 1,000 Genome Project (African, American, East Asian, European, and South Asian) as well as the Iranian population. Interestingly, TCF7L2, a well-known associated gene with T2D, harbors the highest number of enriched risk alleles almost in all populations except for East Asian, where this gene embraces the largest number of significantly depleted risk alleles. The polygenic risk score (PRS) of the enriched risk alleles was calculated for 1,867 diabetic and 2,855 non-diabetic participants in the TCGS cohort, interestingly demonstrating that the risk of developing T2D was almost two times higher in top PRS quintile compared with the lowest quintile after adjusting for other known risk factors.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in regulating gene expression in response to plant stresses. Given the importance regulatory roles of lncRNAs, providing methods for predicting the function of these molecules, especially in non-model plants, is strongly demanded by researchers. Here, we constructed a reference sequence for lncRNAs in P. vera (Pistacia vera L.) with 53220 transcripts. In total, we identified 1909 and 2802 salt responsive lncRNAs in Ghazvini, a salt tolerant cultivar, after 6 and 24 h salt treatment, respectively and 1820 lncRNAs in Sarakhs, a salt sensitive cultivar, after 6 h salt treatment. Functional analysis of these lncRNAs by several hybrid methods, revealed that salt responsive NAT-related lncRNAs associated with transcription factors, CERK1, LEA, Laccase genes and several genes involved in the hormone signaling pathways. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of salt responsive target genes related to top five selected lncRNAs showed their involvement in the regulation of ATPase, cation transporter, kinase and UDP-glycosyltransferases genes. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) experiment results of lncRNAs, pre-miRNAs and mature miRNAs were in accordance with our RNA-seq analysis. In the present study, a comparative analysis of differentially expressed lncRNAs and microRNA precursors between salt tolerant and sensitive pistachio cultivars provides valuable knowledge on gene expression regulation under salt stress condition.