Mlotshwa Sizolwenkosi, Pruss Gail J, Vance Vicki
Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
Trends Plant Sci. 2008 Jul;13(7):375-82. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2008.04.009. Epub 2008 Jun 10.
Small RNAs are the key mediators of RNA silencing and related pathways in plants and other eukaryotic organisms. Silencing pathways couple the destruction of double-stranded RNA with the use of the resulting small RNAs to target other nucleic acid molecules that contain the complementary sequence. This discovery has revolutionized our ideas about host defense and genetic regulatory mechanisms in eukaryotes. Small RNAs can direct the degradation of mRNAs and single-stranded viral RNAs, the modification of DNA and histones, and the inhibition of translation. Viruses might even use small RNAs to do some targeting of their own to manipulate host gene expression. This review highlights the current understanding and new insights concerning the roles of small RNAs in virus infection and host defense in plants.
小RNA是植物和其他真核生物中RNA沉默及相关途径的关键介导因子。沉默途径将双链RNA的降解与利用产生的小RNA靶向含有互补序列的其他核酸分子相结合。这一发现彻底改变了我们对真核生物宿主防御和基因调控机制的认识。小RNA可以指导mRNA和单链病毒RNA的降解、DNA和组蛋白的修饰以及翻译的抑制。病毒甚至可能利用小RNA进行自身的一些靶向作用，以操纵宿主基因表达。本文综述重点介绍了目前对小RNA在植物病毒感染和宿主防御中作用的理解及新见解。
