Shukla Lata I, Chinnusamy Viswanathan, Sunkar Ramanjulu
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 246 Noble Research Center, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2008 Nov;1779(11):743-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2008.04.004. Epub 2008 Apr 16.
Crop yields are significantly reduced by biotic and abiotic stresses throughout the world. To reduce the damage caused by stress factors, plants have evolved sophisticated adaptive responses involving reprogramming gene expression at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional and post-translational levels. A better understanding of such processes will lead to new strategies to improve plant stress tolerance. Recently discovered endogenous small RNAs (microRNAs and small-interfering RNAs) have emerged as important players in plant stress responses. The observation that some of the small RNAs are up- or down-regulated in response to stress implies that these small RNAs have a role in stress tolerance. Stress-induced small RNAs might down-regulate their target genes, which may encode negative regulators of stress responses. Conversely, small RNAs down-regulated in response to stress cause the accumulation of their target mRNAs, which may contribute positively to the adaptation to stress. Here, we review the current status of small RNAs involved in biotic and abiotic stress regulatory networks.
在全球范围内，生物和非生物胁迫显著降低了作物产量。为了减少胁迫因素造成的损害，植物进化出了复杂的适应性反应，包括在转录、转录后和翻译后水平上对基因表达进行重新编程。更好地理解这些过程将带来提高植物胁迫耐受性的新策略。最近发现的内源性小RNA（微小RNA和小干扰RNA）已成为植物胁迫反应中的重要参与者。一些小RNA在胁迫下上调或下调的观察结果表明，这些小RNA在胁迫耐受性中发挥作用。胁迫诱导的小RNA可能会下调其靶基因，这些靶基因可能编码胁迫反应的负调控因子。相反，响应胁迫而下调的小RNA会导致其靶mRNA的积累，这可能对适应胁迫有积极作用。在这里，我们综述了参与生物和非生物胁迫调控网络的小RNA的现状。
