Abstract
Small RNAs are short non-coding RNAs with a length ranging between 20 and 24 nucleotides. Of these, microRNAs (miRNAs) play a distinct role in plant development. miRNAs control target gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, either through direct cleavage or inhibition of translation. miRNAs participate in nearly all the developmental processes in plants, such as juvenile-to-adult transition, shoot apical meristem development, leaf morphogenesis, floral organ formation, and flowering time determination. This review summarizes the research progress in miRNA-mediated gene regulation and its role in plant development, to provide the basis for further in-depth exploration regarding the function of miRNAs and the elucidation of the molecular mechanism underlying the interaction of miRNAs and other pathways.
Highlights
RNA is one of the four major macromolecules of life and is essential in the regulation and expression of genes
24 nt small interfering RNAs and 21 nt microRNAs have the highest expression abundance of small non-coding RNAs. siRNAs were first discovered in plants and are involved in the transcriptional gene silencing and post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) pathway in plants (Hamilton and Baulcombe, 1999; Sijen et al, 2001; Pal-Bhadra et al, 2002) and RNA interfering pathway in animals (Elbashir et al, 2001)
MiRNAs were first identified from nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans) by Victor Ambros lab in collaboration with Gary Ruvkun lab, who confirmed that a miRNA (Lin-4) has a role in regulating the temporal developmental of nematode larvae (Lee et al, 1993; Wightman et al, 1993; Fire et al, 1998; Stricklin et al, 2005)
Summary
RNA is one of the four major macromolecules of life and is essential in the regulation and expression of genes. Many components in hormone signaling are targets of miRNAs, and the interactions of these components and the miRNAs enable plants to regulate their growth, development, and differentiation rapidly and effectively. This signaling is done by selecting miRNAs as intermediates to control hormone responses or, by using hormones to regulate specific miRNA levels (Jodder, 2020; Li et al, 2020; Yu and Wang, 2020). We will summarize the role of miRNAs in the aspects of biogenesis, action mechanism, function in specific tissues, interaction with hormones, and movement to understand how they regulate plant development.
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