title: The evolution and diversification of Dicers in plants.
abstract: 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 ( approximately 200 million years ago), but after the divergence of plants from green algae. A fifth type of Dicer seems to have evolved in monocots.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Plant Industry, P.O. Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Rogerio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Margis
authors.forename: Adriana F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Fusaro
authors.forename: Neil A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Shaun J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Curtin
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: E Jean
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Finnegan
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Waterhouse
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017343:Genes, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D032107:Populus / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins