Gene size correction for small RNA

Question

[avelarbio46]

Hello everyone!

I have a question about gene size normalization.

Usually, when comparing intra-sample gene expression, we need to normalize intra-sample variation. The most common method is gene lenght correction, because longer genes will have more reads.

But I'm analyzing small RNA sequencing (5 million reads).

My question is: how should I normalize intra-sample small RNA variation? Does the same "gene lenght correction" makes sense, and if it does, should I correct for precursor size or by final product size?

Intra-sample variation is important for me because I need to know which miRNAs are most expressed in each sample

Answer 1

[dsull]

You do not need gene length correction at all -- microRNAs are short so your reads will cover the entire length of the microRNA.