Brodersen Peter, Voinnet Olivier
Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes CNRS UPR 2357, 12, rue du Général Zimmer, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France.
Trends Genet. 2006 May;22(5):268-80. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2006.03.003. Epub 2006 Mar 29.
RNA silencing was discovered in plants as a mechanism whereby invading nucleic acids, such as transgenes and viruses, are silenced through the action of small (20-26 nt) homologous RNA molecules. Our understanding of small RNA biology has significantly improved in recent years, and it is now clear that there are several cellular silencing pathways in addition to those involved in defense. Endogenous silencing pathways have important roles in gene regulation at the transcriptional, RNA stability and translational levels. They share a common core of small RNA generator and effector proteins with multiple paralogs in plant genomes, some of which have acquired highly specialized functions. Here, we review recent developments in the plant RNA silencing field that have identified components of specific silencing pathways and have shed light on the mechanisms and biological roles of RNA silencing in plants.
RNA沉默最初是在植物中被发现的一种机制，通过这种机制，入侵的核酸（如转基因和病毒）会在小（20 - 26个核苷酸）同源RNA分子的作用下被沉默。近年来，我们对小RNA生物学的理解有了显著提高，现在很清楚，除了参与防御的那些途径外，还有几种细胞沉默途径。内源性沉默途径在转录、RNA稳定性和翻译水平的基因调控中发挥着重要作用。它们在植物基因组中与多个旁系同源物共享一个由小RNA生成蛋白和效应蛋白组成的共同核心，其中一些已经获得了高度专业化的功能。在这里，我们综述了植物RNA沉默领域的最新进展，这些进展已经确定了特定沉默途径的组成部分，并阐明了植物中RNA沉默的机制和生物学作用。
