title: Functions of long intergenic non-coding (linc) RNAs in plants.
abstract: Whole transcriptome analyses in many organisms have revealed that most transcribed RNAs do not encode proteins. These non-coding RNAs likely contribute to the regulation of gene expression during the development of multicellular organisms. In eukaryotes, the roles of small RNAs, one class of non-coding RNAs, in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation have been well characterized. However, the functions of a second class of non-coding RNAs, long intergenic noncoding (linc) RNAs, are relatively unknown, especially in plants. Recent advances in RNA-seq and tiling microarray technologies have revealed the presence of many lincRNAs across plant species. This review focuses on the functions of lincRNAs that have been recently reported in plants. One of the most well characterized functions of lincRNAs is to epigenetically regulate gene expression by recruiting proteins for chromosome modification to specific loci. Second, lincRNAs are known to inhibit the physical interaction between microRNAs (miRNAs) and their target mRNAs thus controling protein levels of the target mRNAs. Lastly, lincRNAs control alternative splicing by binding and sequestering the proteins required for alternative splicing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and HHMI, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27710, USA. my46@duke.edu.
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D063151:Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D010940:Plant Proteins; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018749:RNA, Plant; D063151:Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
keywords: Alternative splicing; Endogenous target mimic (eTM); Long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA); MicroRNAs (miRNAs); Polycomb repressive complex2 (PRC2)