Consensus s a emen om he second RdRp Summi :
owa ds a uni ied amewo k o RNA i us biology
Au ho s
Alexande G. Lucaci¹,²,*, Hisham M. Shaikh³,*, Li Chuin Chong⁴,*, Rachid Tahzima⁵, Ma co
Fo gia⁶, Ka ima Ben Mansou 7,8,46, Shoichi Sakaguchi⁹, So Nakagawa¹⁰, Xin Hou¹¹, Ta iana
Demina¹², Fhilma Raj Jaya aj Mallika¹³, Anne Kupczok¹⁴, Spy os Ly as¹⁵,¹⁶, Humbe o Deba ¹⁷,
Jus ine Cha on¹⁸, Michael Louie U zo¹⁹, Milica Raco²⁰, Rachel Seongeun Kim²¹, Rica do
Ri e o²², Dimi is Ka aplia is¹⁴, Leyla Si kin i²³, Lau a Luebbe ²⁴,²⁵, Luca Nishimu a¹⁵, Rayan
Chikhi²⁶, Lande De Coninck²⁷, Flo ian Cha ia ²⁸, Emma Sou i ²⁸,²⁹, Vladimi Gajdo ³⁰, Thomas
K annich³¹, Gy is Dudas³², Céd ic Lood³³, Josue Rod íguez-Ramos³⁴, Anja Pecman³⁵, U i Ne i³⁶,
Almu We ne ³⁷, Mia Le³⁸,³⁹,⁴⁰, Bolaji Osundahunsi⁴¹, Nils Pe e Pe e sen³⁸,³⁹, F ançois Maclo ¹⁸,
Se a in Gu ie ez²⁸,⁴², So ia Pa aske opoulou³¹, Luke Hilla y⁴³, Ing ida Olend ai e⁴⁴,⁴⁵
A ilia ions
¹ Depa men o Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Co nell Medicine, New Yo k, NY, USA
² The HRH P ince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Ins i u e o Compu a ional Biomedicine, Weill
Co nell Medicine, New Yo k, NY, USA
³ Resea ch Depa men , Flande s Ma ine Ins i u e (VLIZ), Inno Ocean Si e, Os end, Belgium
⁴ Ins i u e o Expe imen al Vi ology, TWINCORE Cen e o Expe imen al and Clinical In ec ion Resea ch
(MHH–HZI), Hanno e , Ge many
⁵ Uni e si y o B ussels (VUB) – Bio2By e / S uc u al Biology and A i icial In elligence Lab, B ussels,
Belgium
⁶ IPSP-CNR, Ba i, I aly
⁷ Ecology, Diagnos ics and Gene ic Resou ces o Ag icul u ally Impo an Vi uses, Fungi and
Phy oplasmas, Czech Ag i ood Resea ch Cen e , P ague, Czech Republic
⁸ Depa men o Plan P o ec ion, Facul y o Ag obiology, Food and Na u al Resou ces, Czech Uni e si y
o Li e Sciences P ague, P ague, Czech Republic
⁹ Depa men o Mic obiology and In ec ion Con ol, Facul y o Medicine, Osaka Medical and
Pha maceu ical Uni e si y, Osaka, Japan
¹⁰ Depa men o Molecula Li e Science, Tokai Uni e si y School o Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan
¹¹ Ins i u Pas eu , Uni e si é Pa is Ci é CNRS UMR2000, E olu iona y Genomics o RNA Vi uses Uni ,
Pa is, F ance
¹² Uni e si y o Helsinki, Facul y o Ag icul u e and Fo es y, Depa men o Mic obiology, Helsinki, Finland
¹³ Molecula Vi ology Labo a o y, ICAR–Na ional Resea ch Cen e o Banana, Ti uchi appalli, Tamil
Nadu, India
¹⁴ Bioin o ma ics G oup, Wageningen Uni e si y & Resea ch, Wageningen, Ne he lands
¹⁵ Di ision o Sys ems Vi ology, Depa men o Mic obiology and Immunology, The Ins i u e o Medical
Science, The Uni e si y o Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
¹⁶ MRC–Uni e si y o Glasgow Cen e o Vi us Resea ch, Glasgow, UK
¹⁷ Na ional Ins i u e o Ag icul u al Technology, Co doba, A gen ina
¹⁸ F ui Biology and Pa hology Uni , INRAE / Uni e si y o Bo deaux, Villena e d'O non, F ance
¹⁹ Vi ology Labo a o y, Mic obiology Di ision, Ins i u e o Biological Sciences, Uni e si y o he Philippines
Los Baños, Philippines
²⁰ Depa men o Bo any and Plan Pa hology, O egon S a e Uni e si y, Co allis, USA
²¹ In e disciplina y P og am in Bioin o ma ics, Seoul Na ional Uni e si y / School o Biological Sciences,
Seoul Na ional Uni e si y, Seoul, Republic o Ko ea
²² Paul G. Allen School o Global Heal h, Washing on S a e Uni e si y, Pullman, Washing on, USA
²³ Depa men o Molecula and Medical Vi ology, Ruh Uni e si y Bochum, Bochum, Ge many
²⁴ E ic and Wendy Schmid Cen e & In ec ious Disease and Mic obiome P og am, B oad Ins i u e o MIT
and Ha a d, MA, USA
²⁵ Depa men o O ganismic and E olu iona y Biology, Ha a d Uni e si y, MA, USA
²⁶ Ins i u Pas eu , Uni e si é Pa is Ci é, CNRS UMR3525, Pa is, F ance
²⁷ KU Leu en, Di ision o Clinical and Epidemiological Vi ology, Leu en, Belgium
²⁸ ASTRE, CIRAD, INRAE, Uni e si é de Mon pellie , Mon pellie , F ance
²⁹ PPCEI, INSERM, Uni e si é de Mon pellie , Mon pellie , F ance
³⁰ Scien i ic Ve e ina y Ins i u e No i Sad, No i Sad, Se bia
³¹ Genome Compe ence Cen e , Robe Koch Ins i u e, Be lin, Ge many
³² Ins i u e o Bio echnology, Li e Sciences Cen e , Vilnius Uni e si y, Vilnius, Li huania
³³ Depa men o Biology, Uni e si y o Ox o d, Ox o d, Uni ed Kingdom
³⁴ Paci ic No hwes Na ional Labo a o y, Biological Sciences Di ision, USA
³⁵ Na ional Ins i u e o Biology, Depa men o Bio echnology and Sys ems Biology, Ljubljana, Slo enia
³⁶ DOE Join Genome Ins i u e, Law ence Be keley Na ional Labo a o y, Be keley, CA, USA
³⁷ Ins i u e o Mic obiology, Ch is ian-Alb ech s-Uni e si y, Kiel, Ge many
³⁸ Be nha d Noch Ins i u e o T opical Medicine (BNITM), Hambu g, Ge many
³⁹ Ge man Cen e o In ec ion Resea ch (DZIF), pa ne si e Hambu g–Lübeck–Bo s el–Riems, Ge many
⁴⁰ Ins i u e o Compu a ional Sys ems Biology, Uni e si y o Hambu g, Hambu g, Ge many
⁴¹ Depa men o En omology and Plan Pa hology, Uni e si y o A kansas, USA
⁴² Labo a o y o Vi ology, Mon pellie Uni e si y Hospi al, Mon pellie , F ance
⁴³ Depa men o Plan Pa hology, Uni e si y o Cali o nia Da is, Da is, CA, USA
⁴⁴ Di ision o Vi ology, Depa men o Pa hology, Uni e si y o Camb idge, Uni ed Kingdom
⁴⁵ VUGENE, Li huania
46 Depa men o Plan Biology, Swedish Uni e si y o Ag icul u al Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
* deno es equal con ibu ion
Co espondence [email p o ec ed], [email p o ec ed]
2
Abs ac
RNA-dependen RNA polyme ase, o RdRp, emains he cen al molecula hallma k o RNA
i uses. I se es as bo h a uni e sal ancho o i us de ec ion and a c i ical a ge o
unde s anding he unc ional and e olu iona y p ope ies o RNA i uses. Since he inaugu al
RdRp summi in 2023, he e ha e been signi ican ad ances in sequencing, s uc u al p edic ion
and a i icial in elligence, all o which ha e accele a ed he pace o RNA i us disco e y and
axonomic anno a ion, e ealing unp eceden ed le els o i al di e si y, including no el phyla
and unique genome a chi ec u es. The second RdRp summi , which was held in Lisbon in May
2025, ga he ed a g oup o esea ch scien is s om di e se sub ields o i ology o add ess
eme ging challenges in RNA i us biology. These challenges anged om s anda dising
anno a ion and da a sha ing o ha nessing s uc u e-guided phylogene ics and plane a y-scale
compu a ional ools. He e, ou consensus s a emen ou lines key p og ess, cu en and u u e
challenges and communi y-d i en ini ia i es, including benchma king, i us-hos in e ence, and
ongoing knowledge exchange e o s - all o which a e designed o uni y he ield. By os e ing
an en i onmen o sus ained collabo a ion, ou e o s aim o build a cohe en amewo k o
mode n RNA i us biology and o accele a e he explo a ion o he hidden RNA i osphe e.
3
1 In oduc ion
RNA-dependen RNA polyme ase (RdRp) is a key enzyme in he li e cycle o RNA i uses, and
se es as he cen al molecula hallma k o O ho na i ae, p o iding bo h a conse ed ancho
o hei iden i ica ion, and a c i ical a ge o unc ional assessmen o genome eplica ion, and
e olu iona y analysis (Koonin e al. 2015). Due o i s inhe en ole in i al eplica ion and i s
ubiqui ous p esence ac oss majo RNA i us lineages, RdRp he e o e emains one o he mos
powe ul ma ke s o unco e ing i al di e si y, especially in he e a o me agenomic and
me a ansc ip omic da ase s (Wol e al. 2018; Cha on e al. 2022). The ela i ely conse ed
ca aly ic mo i s enable de ec ion e en ac oss highly di e gen se s o i al clades, making i
indispensable o he cha ac e iza ion o he immense “ i al da k ma e ” ha emains
uncul u able and unclassi ied. By ecognizing he cen al ole o RdRp in RNA i us biology, a
global communi y o scien i ic esea che s om di e se disciplines including i ology,
bioin o ma ics, s uc u al biology, epidemiology, and e olu iona y genomics con ened o he
inaugu al RdRp summi in Valencia, Spain, on 22-23 May 2023 (Cha on e al. 2024). A second
RdRp summi ook place in May 2025 in Lisbon, Po ugal, wi h he pu pose o discussing he
la es ad ancemen s, and emaining challenges in he iden i ica ion, anno a ion, and
phylogene ic in e p e a ion o RdRp sequences. Pa icipan s om ac oss he globe ga he ed in
o de o sha e benchma ks, discuss eme ging ools and de ine bes p ac ices o la ge-scale
RNA i us disco e y. This second summi succeeded in os e ing new collabo a i e ini ia i es o
iden i y and add ess he eme ging challenges o he ield.
1.1 Ad ancemen s in he ield since he las RdRp Summi
Since he i s RdRp summi , se e al s udies ha e been published in he ield o RNA i us
disco e y and cha ac e iza ion (Figu e 1). These s udies ocus on benchma king RNA
p ocessing me hods o High-Th oughpu Sequencing (HTS) (Schönegge e al., 2023), and on
he concep ualiza ion and de elopmen o new ools o RdRp iden i ica ion (Liu e al. 2025)
(Figu e 2, Top). Technological ad ances in long- ead sequencing ha e encou aged he
publica ion o s udies applying hese me hods o i ome in es iga ions h ough o al RNA
sequencing (Pichle e al. 2023). This app oach could po en ially open new a enues o
desc ibing i al di e si y a he i al isola e le el in he u u e.
Mos impo an ly, p og ess in he accessibili y and scalabili y o p o ein s uc u al p edic ion and
modeling has p o ided he communi y wi h powe ul ools o in es iga e he phylogene ic
ela ionships be ween di e gen i uses. These ools also show p omise in de ec ing new clades
o RNA i uses wi h ORFs lacking any de ec able homology o known open eading ames (Yin
and Fische 2006) and comple ing i al genomes by iden i ying addi ional genomic agmen s
coding o dis an ly ela ed p o eins. These applica ions a e made possible by con inuous e o s
in he analysis (Chikhi e al. 2025) and anno a ion (Hou e al. 2024) o global RNAseq
da abases, which a e now a ailable o he RNA i ology communi y.
All hese e o s ha e led o a ema kable expansion o i al axonomy, bo h in e ms o he
numbe o known i al species and highe -le el classi ica ions. No ably, wo new phyla ha e
been added o he Ribo i ia ealm: Ambi i ico a (Kuhn e al. 2024a) and A ima i ico a
4
(U ayama e al. 2024). The disco e y o i uses belonging o he phylum Ambi i ico a also
e ealed, o he i s ime, ha RNA i uses can u ilize a genomic o ganiza ion based on ci cula
RNA sequences ha eplica e ia a olling ci cle mechanism (RCA). Accele a ed disco e y and
RdRp-based phylogeny o i uses known as bunya i als led o he es ablishmen o he class
Bunya i ice es unde he Nega na i ico a phylum, accommoda ing nega i e-sense RNA i uses
(Kuhn e al. 2024b).
2 Mode n challenges in RdRp Biology
2.1 RNA Vi us Ca ego iza ion
En i onmen al sampling and sequencing has e olu ionized RNA i us axonomy by expanding
he known di e si y o RNA i uses (Simmonds e al. 2017), e ec i ely doubling he ecognized
epe oi e in ecen yea s h ough disco e ies ac oss a wide ange o ecosys ems and hos s.
Many o hese newly iden i ied i uses lack known pa hogenici y o clea e olu iona y ies o
exis ing axa (Ne i e al. 2022; Wol e al. 2020). In esponse o his su ge in genomic da a, he
In e na ional Commi ee on Taxonomy o Vi uses (ICTV) has adop ed phylogene ic analysis as
he main c i e ion o classi ying newly iden i ied i uses, e en in he absence o biological
in o ma ion (In e na ional Commi ee on Taxonomy o Vi uses Execu i e Commi ee 2020). This
shi acknowledges he p ac ical challenges o cha ac e ising he apidly g owing numbe o i al
sequences bu has also spa ked deba e among i ologis s abou he implica ions o species
de ini ions and biological ele ance (Simmonds e al. 2017; Ne i e al. 2022; Wol e al. 2020;
Gibbs 2020) (Figu e 2, Bo om). This axonomic amewo k elies on compu a ional me hods
ha can classi y me agenomic sequences despi e limi ed biological in o ma ion.
Re e ence-based me hods a e o en used o axonomic classi ica ion which compa e
sequences o cu a ed i al da abases, along wi h ma ke -based me hods, which ely on
conse ed genes in i al clades. Fo RNA i uses, he RdRp gene is ypically used because i is
he mos conse ed genomic egion and is widely used o in e e olu iona y ela ionships (Tang
e al. 2022). Howe e , he ex ensi e sequence di e gence and s uc u al a iabili y o RdRp
o en complica e accu a e econs uc ion and limi axonomic esolu ion (Holmes and Duchêne
2019). To add ess hese challenges, Tang e al. de eloped RdRpBin, a compu a ional ool
combining an alignmen -based s a egy and machine lea ning models o imp o e RdRp
sequence de ec ion and classi ica ion (Tang e al. 2022).
5
Figu e 1. Cumula i e g ow h o s udies ocused on RdRp o e he yea s. The a e o new s udies
and associa ed SRA submissions appea s o be pla eauing, whe eas he a e age size o indi idual
sequencing uns is s eadily inc easing (Chikhi e al. 2025). Since he las RdRp summi in 2023, 475 ex a
s udies on RdRp ha e been conduc ed. This igu e was gene a ed by doing a keywo d sea ch o he SRA
o "RdRp", he e o e i may miss some me a ansc ip ome s udies.
2.2 A uni ied RNA i us da a landscape
The analysis o samples using me agenomics me hods o en e eals di e se and la gely
unexplo ed RNA i al genomes in he en i onmen . By ad ancing he disco e y, anno a ion, and
s anda dized sha ing o hese i al genomes, he RNA i us da a landscape can be uni ied.
Al hough e o s ha e been made in he pas o s anda dize he epo ing o i al genome da a
(MIUViG), hese we e mos ly ailo ed o dsDNA bac e iophages (Roux e al. 2019). The e o e, a
g owing need exis s o an upda e o hese s anda ds o include he speci ic needs o RNA
i us epo ing, e.g. me hods used o eco e y o segmen ed genomes, (i.e. MIUViG 2), along
wi h use - iendly ools (e.g. su k, h ps://gi hub.com/Lande DC/su k) ha ensu e i al genome
da a a e no only accu a ely ep esen ed bu also FAIR-complian . Vi al me agenomics is
e ealing he hidden di e si y o i uses in bo h u ban (e.g., global RNA i omes in ci ies) (Gao
e al. 2024) and na u al se ings (e.g., oden -associa ed i uses in Se bia, wa e -associa ed
i omes in high-al i ude lakes o bee-and pollen-associa ed i omes in Canadian ee ui
o cha ds) poin ing owa ds hei b oade ecological and public heal h ele ance (Wu e al. 2025;
Vansia e al. 2024). An in eg a ed ision o building a comp ehensi e and accessible global
i al landscape exis s, and is guided h ough he imp o emen o me hods, ools, and
collabo a i e s anda ds.
2.3 Expanding he RNA i us disco e y oolki
Ad ances in compu a ional biology, sequencing echnologies, and machine lea ning a e
ans o ming how RNA i uses a e de ec ed, classi ied, and s udied. T adi ional
alignmen -based me hods ha e been supplemen ed by p o ile Hidden Ma ko Models (pHMMs)
(h ps://gi hub.com/dimi is-ka aplia is/RdRpCATCH), s uc u e-awa e homology de ec ion, and,
mo e ecen ly, deep lea ning models ha can be applied o iden i y i uses om genomic and
me agenomic da a, such as CHEER, Vi Hun e , Vi i ie , and RNN-Vi Seeke (Shang and Sun
2021; Sukho uko e al. 2022; Miao e al. 2022; Liu e al. 2022). These ools employ
con olu ional neu al ne wo ks (CNNs) and ecu en neu al ne wo ks (RNNs). Despi e hei
6
e sa ili y, bo h ace limi a ions in p ocessing biological sequences: CNNs may encoun e
challenges wi h inpu s o a ying leng hs and cap u ing global co ela ions, while RNNs s uggle
wi h longe sequences due o anishing o exploding g adien s and di icul ies in cap u ing
long- e m dependencies. To add ess his, Hou e al. employed a new AI model based on
ans o me a chi ec u e (i.e., LucaP o ) o RNA i us disco e y ha u ilizes bo h p o ein
sequences and he s uc u al cha ac e is ics o i al RdRp sequences, and shows i s powe o
unco e ing emo e i al RdRp homologies and unc ional signa u es, e en in sequences wi h no
de ec able simila i y o known e e ences (Hou e al. 2024; Nakagawa and Sakaguchi 2024).
These ools enable esea che s o unco e RNA i uses ha would ha e p e iously escaped
de ec ion due o hei low sequence simila i y o known axa. A he same ime, long- ead and
single-cell sequencing echnologies a e enhancing genome assembly and hos linkage,
especially in complex en i onmen al samples. This g owing a senal o me hods acili a es he
disco e y o he hidden RNA i osphe e, anno a ion o unc ional i al elemen s, and in e ence
o hos – i us in e ac ions, he eby en iching bo h axonomic esolu ion and biological
in e p e a ion.
2.4 Mining he plane a y i osphe e a scale and dep h
Se e al global ini ia i es, such as VIRION, PREDICT, and he NIH Human Vi ome P og am
(h ps://common und.nih.go /human i ome) ha e been ins umen al in elucida ing i omes
ac oss di e en en i onmen s, o ganisms, o ecosys ems, each implemen ing dis inc sampling
and analy ical s a egies (Wallace e al. 2025; Wu and Peng 2024; Wang e al. 2025; Ca lson e
al. 2022). Alongside hese s udies a e he inc easing numbe o esea ch p ac ices which
in oduce challenges in e i ying he iden i y and axonomy o uncul i a ed i uses. This
unde sco es he need o s anda dized me hodologies ha would ensu e in e ope abili y,
ep oducibili y, and obus esul s ha a e bo h e i iable and eliable.
Le e aging la ge-scale compu a ional and e olu iona y app oaches allows o he disco e y o
hidden dimensions o he plane 's i osphe e and enables he assessmen o eme ging i al
h ea s a unp eceden ed scales (Chikhi e al. 2025; Edga e al. 2022). Fo example, he Logan
p ojec p o ides a amewo k o he assembly and analysis o as amoun s o complex and
agmen ed genomic da a. The iden i ica ion o endogenous i al elemen s embedded in public
da abases, using uncha ac e ized p o eins as a window in o ancien i al in eg a ions, p o ides
us wi h a deepe unde s anding o hei e olu iona y legacies in hos genomes and hei
biological implica ions (B own and Fi h 2024). P edic ing he isk o i al spillo e wi h
PREDICTORix (h ps://gi hub.com/laube lab/PREDICTORix, no publicly a ailable a he ime o
submission), a scalable, phylogeny-awa e amewo k ha in eg a es i al sequence da a, hos
associa ions, and e olu iona y ela ionships, allows o sys ema ic e alua ion o how likely a
gi en i us is o c oss species ba ie s (Deng e al. 2025). The in eg a ion o bioin o ma ics,
e olu iona y biology, and big da a illumina es he o igins, ajec o ies, and zoono ic po en ial o
RNA i uses on a global scale. Taken oge he , hese ools p o ide insigh s in o i al
eme gence, biological his o y, and u u e h ea s o human and animal heal h.
7
Figu e 2. Ad ances in RNA i us biology and ICTV g ow h since 2023. (Top) P og ess in RNA i us
esea ch ollowing he inaugu al RdRp Summi in 2023 includes long- ead and single-cell sequencing,
s uc u e-based phylogene ics, la ge-scale p o ein modeling (AlphaFold, ESM old, Foldseek, BFVD), and
AI-d i en disco e y ools (LucaP o , CHEER, Vi Hun e ), which oge he ha e e ealed deeply di e gen
RNA i us lineages and illumina ed he hidden i osphe e. (Bo om) Each o he ings illus a es he apid
expansion o he ICTV axonomy, including new phyla (Ambi i ico a and A ima i ico a).
2.5 Illumina ing he hidden RNA i osphe e
App oaches o unco e ing he as hidden di e si y o RNA i uses, o en e e ed o as “ i al
da k ma e ”, o e insigh s in o one o he la ges biological di e si y ese oi s on he plane . By
ha nessing a i icial in elligence o sys ema ically documen he hidden RNA i osphe e, we
ha e begun o unde s and and demons a e how machine lea ning can be applied o de ec and
classi y no el RNA i uses om inc easingly complex da ase s (Hou e al. 2024). S uc u al
bioin o ma ics me hods (BFVD-Foldseek) use p o ein- olding and alignmen o iden i y deeply
di e gen i al sequences ha elude cu en con en ional sequence homology-based de ec ion
me hods and u he illumina e he s uc u al and unc ional di e si y (and hei ela ionship) o
i al da k ma e (Kim e al. 2025). The ex eme di e si y p esen ed by he ma ke gene RdRp
can be examined using deep e olu iona y analysis o demons a e how his co e i al enzyme
a ies signi ican ly ac oss lineages and di e se en i onmen s. The po en ially ans o ma i e
syne gy be ween ad ances in AI me hods, s uc u al biology, and e olu iona y sequence-based
modeling is poised o undamen ally eshape ou unde s anding o he b ead h and dep h o
RNA i al di e si y. The delibe a e ha moniza ion o hese app oaches cons i u es a majo
s eng h o he ield and has he po en ial o exe a las ing impac on u u e disco e ies.
8
3 Towa ds communi y-d i en solu ions and u u e ini ia i es
The RdRp Summi 2025 b ough oge he esea che s wo king on cu en challenges o RNA
i us esea ch, bu also in ac i ely add essing hem h ough communi y-d i en collabo a ion. As
he ield o RNA biology con inues o expand a an unp eceden ed pace and is spu ed on by
ad ances in sho - and long- ead sequencing echnologies, s uc u al p edic ion, a i icial
in elligence, and me agenomics - i has become inc easingly impo an o align e o s a ound
sha ed me hodologies, s anda ds, and in as uc u es.
A key goal o he summi is o os e a communi y ha emains ac i e be ween he biannual
mee ings. To suppo his objec i e, he summi se es as a hub o connec esea che s acing
simila challenges, enabling hem o wo k collec i ely owa d sha ed solu ions. To his end,
pa icipan s we e in i ed o p opose ideas o communi y-d i en ini ia i es. A dedica ed session
was held o o m collabo a i e g oups a ound selec ed opics o mu ual in e es . In his epo ,
we p esen he communi y p ojec s ha will be suppo ed and de eloped by he RdRp Summi
o e he nex wo yea s (Figu e 3).
3.1 Communi y p ojec s
As he ield o RNA biology expands a an unp eceden ed pace, spu ed on by signi ican
ad ances in sho - ead and long- ead sequencing echnologies, s uc u al p edic ion, AI, and
me agenomics, i becomes inc easingly impo an o align e o s a ound sha ed me hods,
s anda ds, and in as uc u es. To mee his need, he summi aims o es ablish collabo a i e
ini ia i es ha ha e been p oposed and launched by he communi y.
Fo example, as pa o he 1s RdRp Summi , he communi y p ojec o RdRpCATCH -RdRp
Collabo a i e Analysis Tools wi h Collec ions o pHMMs- was in oduced
(h ps://gi hub.com/dimi is-ka aplia is/RdRpCATCH). This p ojec consolida ed mul iple RdRp
pHMM da abases de eloped o e he pas i e yea s in o a single esou ce, add essing
agmen a ion in he ield and educing he echnical ba ie s o he disco e y o RNA i uses.
The 2nd RdRp Summi led o he launch o mul iple communi y p ojec s, each designed o
ackle key gaps in RNA i us disco e y.
9
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