Voinnet Olivier
Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes du CNRS, UPR2357, 12 rue du Général 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France.
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2008 Aug;11(4):464-70. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2008.04.006. Epub 2008 Jun 24.
RNA silencing is a pan-eukaryotic, sequence-specific gene regulation mechanism with recognized roles in development and maintenance of genome integrity. In plants, this mechanism also operates as a major antiviral defense system whereby 21-24 nt-long RNAs derived from the pathogen's genomes guide post-transcriptional silencing (PTGS) of viral transcripts. Recent evidence suggests that PTGS involving small RNAs of cellular, rather than pathogenous origin, might additionally have broad implications in potentiating basal defense and race-specific resistance to microbes in plants. These studies simultaneously unravel a staggering degree of complexity and flexibility in endogenous RNA silencing pathways, a likely reflection of the plants' faculty to adapt to their environment.
RNA沉默是一种泛真核生物的、序列特异性的基因调控机制，在基因组完整性的发育和维持中具有公认的作用。在植物中，这种机制还作为一种主要的抗病毒防御系统发挥作用，由此来自病原体基因组的21 - 24个核苷酸长的RNA引导病毒转录本的转录后沉默（PTGS）。最近的证据表明，涉及细胞来源而非病原体来源的小RNA的PTGS可能在增强植物对微生物的基础防御和小种特异性抗性方面具有广泛影响。这些研究同时揭示了内源性RNA沉默途径中惊人的复杂性和灵活性，这可能反映了植物适应环境的能力。
