title: Biogenesis, functions and fate of plant microRNAs.
abstract: microRNAs (miRNAs), a recently discovered class of small RNAs, are endogenously transcribed non-coding RNAs that are known to control diverse developmental processes and defense responses. They regulate these pathways by fine-tuning the levels of transcripts to which they bind and cause their cleavage or translation repression. Several studies on the processing of miRNA precursors have shed light on the essential structural features for precise release of miRNA duplexes. The identification of a protein that degrade single stranded small RNA has provided us with some understanding of how miRNA flux is maintained in plants. This review focuses on the genome organization, biogenesis, miRNA activity, and the fate of miRNAs.
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, India. afsarrazaa@yahoo.co.in
authors.forename: Afsar Raza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Naqvi
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarwat
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.forename: Nirupam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roychodhury
mesh_terms: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D060565:Argonaute Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005095:Exoribonucleases / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional / Q000235:genetics; D020871:RNA Stability / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C117457:AGO1 protein, Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; D005095:Exoribonucleases; C531524:SDN1 protein, Arabidopsis