title: Small RNA metabolism in Arabidopsis.
abstract: The Arabidopsis genome encodes two major classes of 20-24-nucleotide riboregulators: microRNAs and small interfering RNAs. These small RNAs act as sequence-specific repressors of target gene expression, either at the transcriptional level through DNA and/or histone methylation or at the post-transcriptional level through transcript cleavage or translational inhibition. Small RNAs are processed from precursor RNAs by one or more of the four DICER-LIKE RNase III enzymes, modified by HUA ENHANCER 1, a small RNA methyltransferase, and loaded onto an argonaute protein-containing RNA-induced silencing complex. Here, we review the biogenesis of small RNAs, and we discuss the major outstanding questions in small RNA metabolism and function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, Institute of Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Vanitharani
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ramachandran
authors.forename: Xuemei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D018749:RNA, Plant; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering