Abstract
Gene knockdown and gene-silencing pathways in eukaryotic organisms are associated with small RNAs 20 to 25 nucleotides in length, which include microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). These small RNAs are recruited to repress gene expression upstream or downstream of the transcription pathway. RNA interference (RNAi) is a biological inhibitor of gene expression that results in the destruction of messenger RNAs (mRNAs), leading to the inhibition of protein production. Indeed, RNA silencing plays a key role in plant development in terms of the plant’s response to both biotic and abiotic stresses. Conversely, Viral Suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) are proteins that hamper antiviral RNAi activation in plants, lead to suppress plant RNA-silencing. These VSR proteins prevent the induction of the plant antiviral RNAi immune response. This review focuses on small RNAs in plants and their roles in the responses of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses.
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Abbreviations
- RNA:
-
ribonucleic acid
- mRNA:
-
messenger RNA
- RNAi:
-
RNA interference
- miRNA:
-
microRNA
- RSS:
-
RNA silencing suppressor
- dsRNA:
-
double-stranded RNA
- Pol II:
-
RNA polymerase II
- Pol III:
-
RNA polymerase III
- RNase III:
-
ribonuclease III
- RISC-miRNA:
-
RImR
- tRNA:
-
transfer RNA
- RdRp:
-
RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
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This work was supported by the National Key Program on Transgenic Research (2018ZX08021001), the National Science Foundation of China (No. 31570650), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.
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In this review, A.M. directed all the authors. In addition, J.Z. and W.S. contributed equally as the first author. The other authors attempted to read papers and gather information for this manuscript. All authors drafted and approved the manuscript.
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Movahedi, A., Zhang, J., Sun, W. et al. Plant small RNAs: definition, classification and response against stresses. Biologia 73, 285–294 (2018). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-018-0034-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-018-0034-5