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Enhanced microRNA accumulation through stemloop‐adjacent introns
Author(s) -
Schwab Rebecca,
Speth Corinna,
Laubinger Sascha,
Voinnet Olivier
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/embor.2013.58
Subject(s) - intron , rna splicing , microrna , biology , dicer , minor spliceosome , genetics , computational biology , group ii intron , gene , rna , rna interference
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) originate from stemloop‐forming precursor RNAs found in longer primary transcripts that often contain introns. We show that in plants, those introns, when located 3′ of the stemloop, can promote mature miRNA accumulation, through a mechanism that likely operates at the level of miRNA processing or stability. Reversely, when miRNA production is reduced such as in dicer‐like 1 mutants, splicing of introns that promote miRNA processing is considerably increased, pointing to a tight physical and temporal coordination of intron splicing and miRNA processing in plants. Our findings further suggest that miRNA transcripts without introns generated through alternative polyA‐site usage might contribute to the differential adjustment of miRNA levels, possibly at a tissue‐specific level.