title: MicroRNA maturation and action--the expanding roles of ARGONAUTEs.
abstract: MicroRNAs are endogenously produced 21-nt riboregulators that associate with ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins to direct mRNA cleavage or repress translation of complementary RNAs. In addition to protein-coding gene repression, miRNA-directed regulation of non-protein-coding transcripts can incite production of trans-acting siRNA (tasiRNA) populations that themselves direct mRNA repression. Arabidopsis encodes 10 AGO proteins among which, AGO1, AGO7, and AGO10 have been implicated in miRNA-guided gene repression in vivo. Recent work has shown that AGO proteins discriminate their associated small RNA populations on the basis of size and 5'-terminal nucleotide identity, extending the roles of AGO proteins beyond small RNA action. Our expanding appreciation of miRNA-directed regulation during plant development and stress adaptations has placed miRNAs at the forefront of plant biology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, INRA, 78026 Versailles Cedex, France. amallory@versailles.inra.fr
authors.forename: Allison C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Mallory
authors.forename: Taline
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Elmayan
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vaucheret
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D008957:Models, Genetic
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; D035683:MicroRNAs; C486145:ZIPPY protein, Arabidopsis