Open AccessBiogenesis and regulatory hierarchy of phased small interfering RNAs in plants
Author(s) -
Deng Pingchuan,
Muhammad Sajid,
Cao Min,
Wu Liang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plant biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.525
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1467-7652
pISSN - 1467-7644
DOI - 10.1111/pbi.12882
Subject(s) - small interfering rna , trans acting sirna , biology , microrna , gene silencing , biogenesis , small rna , rna silencing , computational biology , rna interference , rna , argonaute , dicer , microbiology and biotechnology , long non coding rna , genetics , gene
Summary Several varieties of small RNAs including microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are generated in plants to regulate development, genome stability and response to adverse environments. Phased siRNA (phasiRNA) is a type of secondary siRNA that is processed from a miRNA‐mediated cleavage of RNA transcripts, increasing silencing efficiency or simultaneously suppressing multiple target genes. Trans ‐acting siRNAs (ta‐siRNAs) are a particular class of phasiRNA produced from noncoding transcripts that silence targets in trans . It was originally thought that ‘one‐hit’ and ‘two‐hit’ models were essential for processing distinct TAS precursors; however, a single hit event was recently shown to be sufficient at triggering all types of ta‐siRNAs. This review discusses the findings about biogenesis, targeting modes and regulatory networks of plant ta‐siRNAs. We also summarize recent advances in the generation of other phasiRNAs and their possible biological benefits to plants.