title: More than meets the eye? Factors that affect target selection by plant miRNAs and heterochromatic siRNAs.
abstract: MicroRNAs, which target mRNAs for post-transcriptional regulation, and heterochromatic siRNAs, which target chromatin causing DNA methylation, make up the majority of the endogenous regulatory small RNA pool in most plant specimens. They both function to guide Argonaute proteins to targeted nucleic acids on the basis of complementarity. Recent work on plant miRNA-target interactions has clarified the general ''rules' of complementarity, while also providing several intriguing exceptions to these rules. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that several factors besides miRNA-target complementarity affect plant miRNA function. For heterochromatic siRNAs, recent work has made progress towards comprehensively identifying potential target regions, but numerous fundamental questions remain to be answered.
authors.affiliation: Plant Biology Ph.D. Program, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Genetics Ph.D. Program, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polydore
authors.affiliation: Plant Biology Ph.D. Program, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Genetics Ph.D. Program, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Department of Biology, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: mja18@psu.edu.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Axtell
mesh_terms: D060565:Argonaute Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering