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Control of developmental timing by small temporal RNAs: a paradigm for RNA‐mediated regulation of gene expression
Author(s) -
Banerjee Diya,
Slack Frank
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.10046
Subject(s) - biology , gene , rna interference , genetics , dicer , caenorhabditis elegans , heterochrony , rna , regulation of gene expression , ribonuclease iii , non coding rna , ontogeny
Heterochronic genes control the timing of developmental programs. In C. elegans , two key genes in the heterochronic pathway, lin‐4 and let‐7 , encode small temporally expressed RNAs (stRNAs) that are not translated into protein. These stRNAs exert negative post‐transcriptional regulation by binding to complementary sequences in the 3′ untranslated regions of their target genes. stRNAs are transcribed as longer precursor RNAs that are processed by the RNase Dicer/DCR‐1 and members of the RDE‐1/AGO1 family of proteins, which are better known for their roles in RNA interference (RNAi). However, stRNA function appears unrelated to RNAi. Both sequence and temporal regulation of let‐7 stRNA is conserved in other animal species suggesting that this is an evolutionarily ancient gene. Indeed, C. elegans, Drosophila and humans encode at least 86 other RNAs with similar structural features to lin‐4 and let‐7 . We postulate that other small non‐coding RNAs may function as stRNAs to control temporal identity during development in C. elegans and other organisms. BioEssays 24:119–129, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.