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The evolution and diversification of Dicers in plants
Author(s) -
Margis Rogerio,
Fusaro Adriana F.,
Smith Neil A.,
Curtin Shaun J.,
Watson John M.,
Finnegan E. Jean,
Waterhouse Peter M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.03.072
Subject(s) - dicer , multicellular organism , biology , gene , arabidopsis , genome , botany , genetics , evolutionary biology , rna interference , rna , mutant
Most multicellular organisms regulate developmental transitions by microRNAs, which are generated by an enzyme, Dicer. Insects and fungi have two Dicer‐like genes, and many animals have only one, yet the plant, Arabidopsis , has four. Examining the poplar and rice genomes revealed that they contain five and six Dicer‐like genes, respectively. Analysis of these genes suggests that plants require a basic set of four Dicer types which were present before the divergence of mono‐ and dicotyledonous plants (∼200 million years ago), but after the divergence of plants from green algae. A fifth type of Dicer seems to have evolved in monocots.