title: Evidence for targeting common siRNA hotspots and GC preference by plant Dicer-like proteins.
abstract: Small interfering (si)RNAs isolated from Brassica juncea leaves infected by Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) were characterized by cloning and sequencing. The TuMV siRNA population was dominated by 21 and 22-nt long species originated mainly from the same siRNA hotspots, indicating operational similarity between the plant Dicer-like (DCL) enzymes. Robust GC bias was observed for TuMV siRNAs versus the virus genome, indicating that DCL was more likely to target GC-rich regions. Furthermore, dicot micro-(mi)RNAs displayed higher GC% than their DCL1 substrate RNAs, implicating that the GC bias may be ancient, therefore may be important for the RNAi technology.
authors.affiliation: NERC/Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Oxford, Oxford, UK. thien.ho@pembroke.oxford.ac.uk
authors.forename: Thien
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pallett
authors.forename: Tamas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dalmay
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009149:Mustard Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017800:Potyvirus / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference / Q000502:physiology*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D010940:Plant Proteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D043244:Ribonuclease III