Chapter 11 - Small RNAs and cold stress tolerance

Abstract

Temperature stress has an adverse effect on crop productivity worldwide. With the advancements of genome sequencing, the complex stress-response mechanisms in plants are better understood, and important candidates have been identified. microRNAs (miRNAs) and endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are the new regulators that have been identified to play a role in small RNA-based regulation of gene expression during stress responses. These findings have broadened our understanding of stress responses in plants, and important functional roles have been discovered for these small RNAs in cold stress response. Here, we summarize and highlight new findings vis-à-vis the roles of small RNAs in plant cold stress response and acclimation. This understanding of small RNA (miRNAs and endogenous siRNAs)-mediated cold stress tolerance can be extrapolated to other plant species, exploring the outlook for using these small RNAs in molecular breeding and genetic engineering programs for improvement of cold stress tolerance in plants.