MicroRNA在种子发育、休眠与萌发过程中的作用

植物microRNA(miRNA)是一类小分子非编码RNA,对植物的生长发育发挥着重要调控作用。种子发育、休眠与萌发是植物生命进程中的重要阶段。在这一阶段内,种子受各种环境因子及内源激素调控,并且不同植物种子具有不同发育及休眠特性。随着人们对种子发育、休眠及萌发机理的探究,越来越多miRNA被鉴定,它们能够基于植物激素信号传导、抗氧化作用、关键转录因子调控等途径参与种子形态建成、物质代谢及各种胁迫响应。本文主要综述了近年来植物miRNA的形成及调控机理,以及在种子发育、休眠及萌发过程中发挥的调控作用,旨在为今后的研究方向提供参考。     

植物miRNA参与调控作物农艺性状的研究进展

植物microRNA (miRNA)是一类长度约为20～24 nt的内源非编码小RNA,它们通过在转录后水平调控靶基因的表达,在植物的生长发育、逆境响应和环境适应等过程中起着关键作用. miRNA对水稻、玉米、大豆等重要经济作物的农艺性状也起着重要的调控作用,在改良农作物性状上具有重大的应用潜能.本文重点介绍了参与作物农艺性状(如株型、花期、种子发育及抗逆等)调控的关键miRNA及其调控途径,同时总结了miRNA参与作物性状改良的主要研究方法和手段,并讨论了miRNA在作物性状改良应用中的前景.     

果蝇微小RNA及其在衰老过程中的作用

微小RNA（microRNA, miRNA）是一类长度在22 nt左右的内源非编码小RNA,广泛存在于动物、植物、病毒等多种有机体中,是机体正常衰老与疾病的重要调控因子。本文对果蝇不同生长时期miRNA的表达模式、主要衰老相关信号通路以及与衰老相关的miRNA进行了综述。在果蝇的不同发育时期均有特定的miRNA发挥重要作用,其表达模式与功能相关;miRNA参与了主要衰老分子信号通路的调控,如胰岛素/胰岛素样生长因子（IIS）通路和雷帕霉素靶蛋白（TOR）通路。研究表明,miRNA通过调控衰老相关信号通路中的靶基因,进而促进或延缓果蝇衰老,如miR-34, miR-8, miR-14, miR let7和miR-277等。因此,研究参与衰老调控的miRNA,为阐明衰老机制及抗衰老药物的设计奠定了基础。     

植物逆境miRNA研究进展

包括生物和非生物在内的多种逆境胁迫是植物正常生长和作物产量提高的重要限制性因素。植物在长期的进化过程中, 通过诱导表达某些抵御或防卫途径的关键基因来实现对胁迫的响应。研究表明, 逆境胁迫不仅会诱导植物蛋白质编码基因的表达, 也会诱导一些非蛋白质编码基因的表达, 这类非蛋白质编码基因的表达产物在植物的生长、发育和应对逆境胁迫等过程中起到重要的调控作用。miRNA(小分子RNA)就是这类非蛋白质编码基因产物中的重要类群, 研究发现, 多种逆境均会诱导miRNA的产生, 其作用是通过引导目的基因mRNA的降解和阻止翻译过程来调控靶基因, 最终通过形态或生理上的变化达到对逆境的适应。文章主要对植物逆境胁迫下miRNA的研究, 特别是逆境胁迫诱导miRNA的产生、靶基因调控以及miRNA在植物适应逆境胁迫过程中的作用进行了综述, 同时, 文章还对在逆境胁迫下植物miRNA的研究方法进行了初步的探讨。     

MicroRNA调控被子植物花发育的研究进展

MicroRNA（miRNA）是一类由内源基因编码的长度为21～23nt的非编码单链小RNA分子,通过与靶基因的互补位点结合而降解或抑制靶mRNA的翻译,从而在转录后水平上调控基因的活性。miRNA在调控植物发育方面发挥着广泛的作用。从成花诱导到花器官特征属性的形成,miRNA在整个花发育过程均发挥着关键作用。miRl72和miRl56／157参与由营养生长向生殖生长转换的调控,miRl72和miRl69在花发育的早期阶段通过界定靶基因的表达区域而调控花器官的属性,miR319、miRl59、miRl64以及miRl67在花发育的晚期阶段决定细胞的特化。文章综述了miRNA调控被子植物花发育的研究进展,为深入了解miRNA的作用机制奠定基础。     

果蝇MicroRNA研究进展

MicroRNA(miRNA)是一类大小约20~24个碱基的单链小分子非编码RNA,能够通过与靶mRNA特异性的碱基互补配对,引起靶mRNA的降解或者抑制其翻译,从而对基因进行转录后表达调控。miRNA广泛存在于动物、植物、细菌、病毒等多种生物物种中,并参与了发育调控、细胞凋亡、肿瘤发生、病原体感染等多种生物学进程。近年来对果蝇miRNA进行了鉴定与深入研究,miRNA几乎参与了果蝇生命过程中的所有重要环节,本文对果蝇miRNA的结构、作用机制及其生物学功能等研究进展进行了综述。     

miRNA在植物病原调控方面的研究进展

miRNA是一类在真核生物体内普遍存在的,长度在22 nt左右的单链小RNA分子。大量研究发现,miRNA可广泛参与植物的生长发育、新陈代谢、物质运输、逆境响应及病原防御等多种生理生化过程。目前已经从植物中鉴定到大量的miRNA,但其中参与植物病原调控相关miRNA的研究较少。miRNA作为一种重要的转录调控因子,可参与调控病原相关分子模式触发的免疫反应和效应因子触发的免疫反应。拟南芥中,miRNA393通过靶向生长素受体基因对植物生长素进行负调控,从而在抵御细菌侵染方面发挥作用;水稻中,miRNA528可响应水稻条纹病毒(RSV)的侵染,人为提高miRNA528水平有助于维持水稻对RSV的抗性。阐述了miRNA的作用机制,与植物细菌、真菌和病毒侵染相关的miRNA研究进展,总结了葡萄,苹果,梨和桃等具有重要经济价值果树中病原调控相关miRNA研究情况,旨在为今后miRNA在植物,特别是在果树抗病研究方面提供全面的理论依据。     

植物miRNA在调节低磷胁迫响应中的作用

植物MicroRNA(miRNA)是一类内源性非编码小分子RNA,它们参与调节植物的生长、发育和代谢过程中多种基因的表达。近期的研究发现miRNA参与调节磷的吸收和利用,对植物适应低磷胁迫具有重要作用。本文概述了植物磷吸收和转运的机制,介绍了低磷胁迫下miRNA的表达水平变化,重点对miRNA在植物响应低磷胁迫中的作用,如改变根系结构、提高磷的转运和再利用效率、参与花青素和抗氧化物生物合成等进行了综述,以期为揭示植物低磷胁迫响应分子机制,提高植物对磷的吸收效率提供借鉴。     

miRNA在植物重金属胁迫应答中的作用

microRNA （miRNA）是一种新型的长度为20~24 nt的非编码RNA,通过对靶基因的表达调节进而参与调控植物体的多种生理代谢活动。重金属是一类重要的环境污染物,严重危害植物的生长发育,甚至导致植物死亡。植物在长期的进化过程中形成了抵御重金属胁迫的多种机制,如miRNA对特定基因转录后水平的调控就在逆境胁迫应答中发挥重要作用。本文综述了植物中参与重金属胁迫应答miRNA的种类及作用机制,为揭示重金属胁迫条件下基因表达调控机制,以及利用基因工程手段改良植物对重金属的耐受性提供了线索和依据。     

MicroRNA在脂肪细胞分化中的调节作用

MicroRNA(miRNA)是一类内源性、短小、大小为～22核苷酸的单链非编码RNA.miRNA广泛分布于真核细胞内,能够通过与靶mRNA3'末端非翻译区(3'-untranslated region,3'UTR)特异性结合来降解或抑制靶mRNA的翻译,从而对基因进行转录后基因表达的调控.miRNA不仅调控生物体的生长和发育过程,而且参与调控多种生理学和病理学过程,如细胞分化、细胞增殖、胰岛素的分泌、脂肪代谢以及肿瘤的形成.研究表明miRNA在肿瘤、糖尿病、代谢等多种疾病中发挥着重要的作用.本文对miRNA在脂肪细胞分化及脂类代谢中的调节作用进行综述.     

MicroRNA gene regulation cascades during early stages of plant development

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate various developmental programs of plants. This review focuses on miRNA involvement in early events of plant development, such as seed germination, seedling development and the juvenile to adult phase transition. miR159 and miR160 are involved in the regulation of seed germination through their effects on the sensitivity of seeds to ABA. miR156 and miR172 play critical roles in the emergence of vegetative leaves at post-germinative stages, which is important for the transition to autotrophic growth. The phase transition from the juvenile to adult stage in both monocots and dicots is also regulated by miR156 and miR172. In these early developmental processes, there are miRNA gene regulation cascades where the miR156 pathway acts upstream of the miR172 pathway. Moreover, targets of miR156 and miR172 exert positive feedback on the expression of MIR genes that suppress themselves. The early events of plant development appear to be controlled by complex mechanisms involving sequential expression of different miRNA pathways and feedback loops among miRNAs and their target genes.     

Identification of conserved microRNAs and their target genes in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that have important gene regulation roles in various organisms. To date, a total of 1279 plant miRNAs have been deposited in the miRNA miRBase database (Release 10.1). Many of them are conserved during the evolution of land plants suggesting that the well-conserved miRNAs may also retain homologous target interactions. Recently, little is known about the experimental or computational identification of conserved miRNAs and their target genes in tomato. Here, using a computational homology search approach, 21 conserved miRNAs were detected in the Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) and Genomic Survey Sequence (GSS) databases. Following this, 57 potential target genes were predicted by searching the mRNA database. Most of the target mRNAs appeared to be involved in plant growth and development. Our findings verified that the well-conserved tomato miRNAs have retained homologous target interactions amongst divergent plant species. Some miRNAs express diverse combinations in different cell types and have been shown to regulate cell-specific target genes coordinately. We believe that the targeting propensity for genes in different biological processes can be explained largely by their protein connectivity.     

Identification and validation of Asteraceae miRNAs by the expressed sequence tag analysis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a vital role in the regulation of gene expression. Despite their identification in hundreds of plant species, few miRNAs have been identified in the Asteraceae, a large family that comprises approximately one tenth of all flowering plants. In this study, we used the expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis to identify potential conserved miRNAs and their putative target genes in the Asteraceae. We applied quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) to confirm the expression of eight potential miRNAs in Carthamus tinctorius and Helianthus annuus. We also performed qRT-PCR analysis to investigate the differential expression pattern of five newly identified miRNAs during five different cotyledon growth stages in safflower. Using these methods, we successfully identified and characterized 151 potentially conserved miRNAs, belonging to 26 miRNA families, in 11 genus of Asteraceae. EST analysis predicted that the newly identified conserved Asteraceae miRNAs target 130 total protein-coding ESTs in sunflower and safflower, as well as 433 additional target genes in other plant species. We experimentally confirmed the existence of seven predicted miRNAs, (miR156, miR159, miR160, miR162, miR166, miR396, and miR398) in safflower and sunflower seedlings. We also observed that five out of eight miRNAs are differentially expressed during cotyledon development. Our results indicate that miRNAs may be involved in the regulation of gene expression during seed germination and the formation of the cotyledons in the Asteraceae. The findings of this study might ultimately help in the understanding of miRNA-mediated gene regulation in important crop species.