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Small but Mighty: Functional Peptides Encoded by Small ORFs in Plants
Author(s) -
Hsu Polly Yingshan,
Benfey Philip N.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
proteomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.26
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1615-9861
pISSN - 1615-9853
DOI - 10.1002/pmic.201700038
Subject(s) - orfs , biology , ribosome profiling , computational biology , genome , open reading frame , proteomics , encode , genetics , translation (biology) , gene , peptide sequence , messenger rna
Peptides encoded by small open reading frames (sORFs, usually <100 codons) play critical regulatory roles in plant development and environmental responses. Despite their importance, only a small number of these peptides have been identified and characterized. Genomic studies have revealed that many plant genomes contain thousands of possible sORFs, which could potentially encode small peptides. The challenge is to distinguish translated sORFs from nontranslated ones. Here, we highlight advances in methodologies for identifying these hidden sORFs in plant genomes, including ribosome profiling and proteomics. We also examine the evidence for new peptides arising from sORFs and discuss their functions in plant development, environmental responses, and translational control.