title: Criteria for annotation of plant MicroRNAs.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 21 nucleotide noncoding RNAs produced by Dicer-catalyzed excision from stem-loop precursors. Many plant miRNAs play critical roles in development, nutrient homeostasis, abiotic stress responses, and pathogen responses via interactions with specific target mRNAs. miRNAs are not the only Dicer-derived small RNAs produced by plants: A substantial amount of the total small RNA abundance and an overwhelming amount of small RNA sequence diversity is contributed by distinct classes of 21- to 24-nucleotide short interfering RNAs. This fact, coupled with the rapidly increasing rate of plant small RNA discovery, demands an increased rigor in miRNA annotations. Herein, we update the specific criteria required for the annotation of plant miRNAs, including experimental and computational data, as well as refinements to standard nomenclature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711, USA. meyers@dbi.udel.edu
authors.forename: Blake C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Axtell
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bartel
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Bartel
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baulcombe
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Carrington
authors.forename: Xuemei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Pamela J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Griffiths-Jones
authors.forename: Steven E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Allison C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Mallory
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Martienssen
authors.forename: R Scott
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Poethig
authors.forename: Yijun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Herve
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vaucheret
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Voinnet
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weigel
authors.forename: Jian-Kang
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D018749:RNA, Plant; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering