Abstract
Vegetative phase changes in plants describes the transition between juvenile and adult phases of vegetative growth before flowering. It is one of the most fundamental mechanisms for plants to sense developmental signals, presenting a complex process involving many still-unknown determinants. Several studies in annual and perennial plants have identified the conservative roles of miR156 and its targets, SBP/SPL genes, in guiding the switch of plant growth from juvenile to adult phases. Here, we review recent progress in understanding the regulation of miR156 expression and how miR156-SPLs mediated plant age affect other processes in Arabidopsis. Powerful high-throughput sequencing techniques have provided rich data to systematically study the regulatory mechanisms of miR156 regulation network. From this data, we draw an expanded miR156-regulated network that links plant developmental transition and other fundamental biological processes, gaining novel and broad insight into the molecular mechanisms of plant-age-related processes in Arabidopsis.
Highlights
The transition of vegetative growth from the juvenile to the adult stage is essential for sexual reproduction [1]
The miR156-SPL-mediated plant age pathway is involved in many other biological processes by impacting downstream targets at transcript level or through protein interaction
Based on the investigation from both molecular and high-throughput sequencing experiments, we draw a diagram for a miR156-SPL module regulation network in Arabidopsis
Summary
The transition of vegetative growth from the juvenile to the adult stage is essential for sexual reproduction [1]. Molecular techniques have been widely used in studying the genetic mechanism of vegetative phase transition, from which microRNA156 (miR156) and its target SBP/SPL genes were detected to be major regulators for plant development [3,4]. It has been recognized of the extremely conserved role of miR156 plays throughout the angiosperms, as evidenced from many species [5,6,7,8]. Based on the available knowledge from both experimental and sequencing data, we illustrated a miR156-mediated regulation network that helps us understand the molecular mechanisms behind the plant-age-mediated phenomenon
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