The Role of MicroRNAs in Plants

• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2020
• Subjects: Biology, life sciences; abiotic stress; agronomic traits; aleurone; Arabidopsis thaliana; argonaute; callose; circRNA; circular RNAs; Colorado potato beetle; copper deficiency; copper protein; crop improvement; Cu-microRNA; dehydration; desiccation; development; DOUBLE-STRANDED RNA BINDING (DRB) proteins DRB1; DRB2; DRB4; drought; drought stress; flowering; GAMYB; heat stress; immunoprecipitation; maize (Zea mays L.); microRNA; microRNA (miRNA); microRNAs; microRNAs (miRNAs); miR159; miR171; miR399; miR399-directed PHO2 expression regulation; miRNA; miRNA target gene expression; miRNAs; MYB transcription factors; non-coding RNA; nutrient availability; P5CS; phasiRNA; phosphate (PO4) stress; PHOSPHATE2 (PHO2); phosphorous (P); photosynthesis; plant; plastocyanin; pollen; post-transcriptional gene silencing; programmed cell death; proline; putrescine; resurrection plants; RT-qPCR; salt stress; secondary siRNA; Solanum lycopersicum; STTM; tapetum; target mimicry; tasiRNA; tomato; Tripogon loliiformis; vegetative growth
• Online Access: Open Access: DOAB: description of the publication; Open Access: DOAB, download the publication
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (174 p.)
• ISBN: 9783039287307; 9783039287314; books978-3-03928-731-4
• Access: Open Access

Discovered in plants at the turn of the century, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to be fundamental to many aspects of plant biology. These small (20-24 nt) regulatory RNAs are derived via processing from longer imperfect double-stranded RNAs. They are then incorporated into silencing complexes, which they guide to (m)RNAs of high sequence complementarity, resulting in gene silencing outcomes, either via RNA degradation and/or translational inhibition. Some miRNAs are ancient, being present in all species of land plants and controlling fundamental processes such as phase change, organ polarity, flowering, and leaf and root development. However, there are many more miRNAs that are much less conserved and with less understood functions. This Special Issue contains seven research papers that span from understanding the function of a single miRNA family to examining how the miRNA profiles alter during abiotic stress or nutrient deficiency. The possibility of circular RNAs in plants acting as miRNA decoys to inhibit miRNA function is investigated, as was the hierarchical roles of miRNA biogenesis factors in the maintenance of phosphate homeostasis. Three reviews cover the potential of miRNAs for agronomic improvement of maize, the role of miRNA-triggered secondary small RNAs in plants, and the potential function of an ancient plant miRNA.