title: Evolution, functions, and mysteries of plant ARGONAUTE proteins.
abstract: ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins bind small RNAs (sRNAs) to form RNA-induced silencing complexes for transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene silencing. Genomes of primitive plants encode only a few AGO proteins. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome encodes ten AGO proteins, designated AGO1 to AGO10. Most early studies focused on these ten proteins and their interacting sRNAs. AGOs in other flowering plant species have duplicated and diverged from this set, presumably corresponding to new, diverged or specific functions. Among these, the grass-specific AGO18 family has been discovered and implicated as playing important roles during plant reproduction and viral defense. This review covers our current knowledge about functions and features of AGO proteins in both eudicots and monocots and compares their similarities and differences. On the basis of these features, we propose a new nomenclature for some plant AGOs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: zhanghan@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Blake C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Walbot
mesh_terms: D060565:Argonaute Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction
chemical_list: D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins