RESUMEN
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression in eukaryotic cells. The past decade has seen an explosion in our understanding of the sets of miRNA genes encoded in the genomes in different species of plants and the mechanisms by which miRNAs interact with target RNAs. A subset of miRNA families (and their binding sites in target RNAs) are conserved between angiosperms and basal plants, suggesting they predate the divergence of existing lineages of plants. However, the majority of miRNA families expressed by any given plant species have a narrow phylogenetic distribution. As a group, these "young" miRNAs genes appear to be evolutionarily fluid and lack clearly understood biological function. The goal of this review is to summarize our understanding of the sets of miRNA genes and miRNA targets that exist in various plant species and to discuss hypotheses that explain the patterns of conservation and divergence observed among microRNAs in plants.
Asunto(s)
Evolución Molecular , Genes de Plantas/genética , Variación Genética , MicroARNs/genética , Plantas/genética , ARN de Planta/genética , Secuencia de Bases , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Filogenia , Plantas/clasificación , Homología de Secuencia de Ácido NucleicoRESUMEN
This chapter presents procedures for the computational identification of plant miRNA genes. In the first procedure, homologs of known miRNAs are identified in a database of genomic or cDNA sequence. In the second procedure, previously unidentified miRNA families are predicted through the analysis of secondary structure, evolutionary conservation, and targeting potential.
Asunto(s)
Genes de Plantas/genética , Genómica/métodos , MicroARNs/genética , Biología Computacional/métodosRESUMEN
The female gametophyte of flowering plants, the embryo sac, develops within the diploid (sporophytic) tissue of the ovule. While embryo sac-expressed genes are known to be required at multiple stages of the fertilization process, the set of embryo sac-expressed genes has remained poorly defined. In particular, the set of genes responsible for mediating intracellular communication between the embryo sac and the male gametophyte, the pollen grain, is unknown. We used high-throughput cDNA sequencing and whole-genome tiling arrays to compare gene expression in wild-type ovules to that in dif1 ovules, which entirely lack embryo sacs, and myb98 ovules, which are impaired in pollen tube attraction. We identified nearly 400 genes that are downregulated in dif1 ovules. Seventy-eight percent of these embryo sac-dependent genes were predicted to encode for secreted proteins, and 60% belonged to multigenic families. Our results define a large number of candidate extracellular signaling molecules that may act during embryo sac development or fertilization; less than half of these are represented on the widely used ATH1 expression array. In particular, we found that 37 out of 40 genes encoding Domain of Unknown Function 784 (DUF784) domains require the synergid-specific transcription factor MYB98 for expression. Several DUF784 genes were transcribed in synergid cells of the embryo sac, implicating the DUF784 gene family in mediating late stages of embryo sac development or interactions with pollen tubes. The coexpression of highly similar proteins suggests a high degree of functional redundancy among embryo sac genes.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas de Arabidopsis/genética , Arabidopsis/genética , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Genoma , ADN Complementario/metabolismo , Diploidia , Genes de Plantas , Genoma de Planta , Proteínas de Plantas/química , Polen/metabolismo , Tubo Polínico , Transducción de SeñalRESUMEN
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, endogenous RNAs that regulate gene expression in plants and animals. In plants, these approximately 21-nucleotide RNAs are processed from stem-loop regions of long primary transcripts by a Dicer-like enzyme and are loaded into silencing complexes, where they generally direct cleavage of complementary mRNAs. Although plant miRNAs have some conserved functions extending beyond development, the importance of miRNA-directed gene regulation during plant development is now particularly clear. Identified in plants less than four years ago, miRNAs are already known to play numerous crucial roles at each major stage of development-typically at the cores of gene regulatory networks, targeting genes that are themselves regulators, such as those encoding transcription factors and F-box proteins.
Asunto(s)
MicroARNs/fisiología , Plantas/genética , Silenciador del Gen , Genoma de Planta , Procesamiento Postranscripcional del ARNRESUMEN
The C. elegans heterochronic genes program stage-specific temporal identities in multiple tissues during larval development. These genes include the first two miRNA-encoding genes discovered, lin-4 and let-7. We show that lin-58 alleles, identified as lin-4 suppressors, define another miRNA that controls developmental time. These alleles are unique in that they contain point mutations in a gene regulatory element of mir-48, a let-7 family member. mir-48 is expressed prematurely in lin-58 mutants, whereas expression of mir-241, another let-7 family member residing immediately upstream of mir-48, appears to be unaffected. A mir-48 transgene bearing a lin-58 point mutation causes strong precocious phenotypes in the hypodermis and vulva when expressed from multicopy arrays. mir-48::gfp fusions reveal expression in these tissues, and inclusion of a lin-58 mutation causes precocious and enhanced gfp expression. These results suggest that lin-58 alleles disrupt a repressor binding site that restricts the time of miR-48 action in wild-type animals.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/genética , Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Caenorhabditis elegans/crecimiento & desarrollo , Regulación del Desarrollo de la Expresión Génica , MicroARNs/genética , MicroARNs/metabolismo , Animales , Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Caenorhabditis elegans/ultraestructura , Genotipo , Proteínas Fluorescentes Verdes/genética , Proteínas Fluorescentes Verdes/metabolismo , Mutación , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 22-nucleotide noncoding RNAs that can regulate gene expression by directing mRNA degradation or inhibiting productive translation. Dominant mutations in PHABULOSA (PHB) and PHAVOLUTA (PHV) map to a miR165/166 complementary site and impair miRNA-guided cleavage of these mRNAs in vitro. Here, we confirm that disrupted miRNA pairing, not changes in PHB protein sequence, causes the developmental defects in phb-d mutants. In planta, disrupting miRNA pairing near the center of the miRNA complementary site had far milder developmental consequences than more distal mismatches. These differences correlated with differences in miRNA-directed cleavage efficiency in vitro, where mismatch scanning revealed more tolerance for mismatches at the center and 3' end of the miRNA compared to mismatches to the miRNA 5' region. In this respect, miR165/166 resembles animal miRNAs in its pairing requirements. Pairing to the 5' portion of the small silencing RNA appears crucial regardless of the mode of post-transcriptional repression or whether it occurs in plants or animals, supporting a model in which this region of the silencing RNA nucleates pairing to its target.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas de Arabidopsis/genética , Arabidopsis/genética , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Homeodominio/genética , MicroARNs/metabolismo , Hojas de la Planta/crecimiento & desarrollo , Hojas de la Planta/genética , ARN de Planta/metabolismo , Alelos , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Animales , Arabidopsis/crecimiento & desarrollo , Emparejamiento Base , Secuencia de Bases , MicroARNs/genética , Mutación/genética , Fenotipo , Plantas Modificadas Genéticamente , ARN Mensajero/genética , ARN Mensajero/metabolismo , ARN de Planta/genéticaRESUMEN
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 21-nucleotide RNAs, some of which have been shown to play important gene-regulatory roles during plant development. We developed comparative genomic approaches to systematically identify both miRNAs and their targets that are conserved in Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa). Twenty-three miRNA candidates, representing seven newly identified gene families, were experimentally validated in Arabidopsis, bringing the total number of reported miRNA genes to 92, representing 22 families. Nineteen newly identified target candidates were confirmed by detecting mRNA fragments diagnostic of miRNA-directed cleavage in plants. Overall, plant miRNAs have a strong propensity to target genes controlling development, particularly those of transcription factors and F-box proteins. However, plant miRNAs have conserved regulatory functions extending beyond development, in that they also target superoxide dismutases, laccases, and ATP sulfurylases. The expression of miR395, the sulfurylase-targeting miRNA, increases upon sulfate starvation, showing that miRNAs can be induced by environmental stress.
Asunto(s)
Biología Computacional , MicroARNs/genética , ARN de Planta/genética , Arabidopsis/genética , Secuencia de Bases , Secuencia Conservada , Ambiente , MicroARNs/química , MicroARNs/metabolismo , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Conformación de Ácido Nucleico , Oryza/genética , ARN de Planta/química , ARN de Planta/metabolismo , ARN no Traducido/química , ARN no Traducido/genéticaRESUMEN
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can play important gene regulatory roles in nematodes, insects, and plants by basepairing to mRNAs to specify posttranscriptional repression of these messages. However, the mRNAs regulated by vertebrate miRNAs are all unknown. Here we predict more than 400 regulatory target genes for the conserved vertebrate miRNAs by identifying mRNAs with conserved pairing to the 5' region of the miRNA and evaluating the number and quality of these complementary sites. Rigorous tests using shuffled miRNA controls supported a majority of these predictions, with the fraction of false positives estimated at 31% for targets identified in human, mouse, and rat and 22% for targets identified in pufferfish as well as mammals. Eleven predicted targets (out of 15 tested) were supported experimentally using a HeLa cell reporter system. The predicted regulatory targets of mammalian miRNAs were enriched for genes involved in transcriptional regulation but also encompassed an unexpectedly broad range of other functions.