Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2008:320:117-36.
doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-75157-1_6.

MicroRNA metabolism in plants

Xuemei Chen  1
Affiliations
Review

MicroRNA metabolism in plants

Xuemei Chen. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2008.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 21- to 24-nucleotide (nt) RNAs that are the final products of nonprotein-coding genes. miRNAs are processed from single-stranded precursors that form hairpin structures, with the miRNAs residing in one arm of the stems. miRNAs were first isolated and recognized as regulators of protein-coding genes through forward genetic screens in Caenorhabditis elegans, but were not recognized as universal regulators of gene expression in animals until three landmark studies in year 2001 demonstrated the widespread existence of miRNAs in animals. Soon after, studies from a few groups identified a number of miRNAs from Arabidopsis, providing the first evidence for the existence of these regulatory molecules in plants. Since then, numerous miRNAs from a number of land plants ranging from mosses to flowering plants were identified, and functional studies in Arabidopsis established a framework of understanding of miRNA biogenesis and function. This chapter summarizes the current knowledge as well as gaps in our understanding of plant miRNA biogenesis and function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Adai A, Johnson C, Mlotshwa S, Archer-Evans S, Manocha V, Vance V, Sundaresan V. Computational prediction of miRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genome Res. 2005;15:78–91. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alefelder S, Patel BK, Eckstein F. Incorporation of terminal phosphorothioates into oligonucleotides. Nucleic Acids Res. 1998;26:4983–4988. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allen E, Xie Z, Gustafson AM, Sung GH, Spatafora JW, Carrington JC. Evolution of microRNA genes by inverted duplication of target gene sequences in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nat Genet. 2004;36:1282–1290. - PubMed
    1. Arazi T, Talmor-Neiman M, Stav R, Riese M, Huijser P, Baulcombe DC. Cloning and characterization of micro-RNAs from moss. Plant J. 2005;43:837–848. - PubMed
    1. Arteaga-Vazquez M, Caballero-Perez J, Vielle-Calzada JP. A family of microRNAs present in plants and animals. Plant Cell. 2006;18:3355–3369. - PMC - PubMed