Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Eur J Cell Biol. 2010 Feb-Mar;89(2-3):250-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2009.11.004. Epub 2010 Jan 14.
Development of multi-cellular organisms depends on the correct spatial and temporal expression of numerous genes acting in concert to form regulatory networks. The expression of individual genes can be controlled at different levels, e.g. at the transcriptional level by sequence-specific binding of transcription factors and/or by epigenetic modifications, or at the post-transcriptional level, e.g., by modulating translation or protein stability. Within the last decade the picture of gene regulatory mechanisms has been substantially enriched by the identification of small RNAs (sRNAs) of several distinct subspecies. Non-coding regulatory sRNAs contribute to transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation by different modes of sequence-specific interaction with their targets. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which guide post-transcriptional gene silencing, have been found to contribute to a variety of developmental programs in plants and animals. Here we provide an overview about generation and action of miRNAs and other small RNAs, and their contribution to an important developmental process in plants, flower formation.
多细胞生物的发育依赖于众多基因的正确时空表达，这些基因协同作用形成调控网络。单个基因的表达可以在不同水平上进行控制，例如在转录水平上通过转录因子的序列特异性结合和/或表观遗传修饰，或者在转录后水平上，例如通过调节翻译或蛋白质稳定性。在过去的十年中，通过鉴定几种不同亚种的小 RNA（sRNA），基因调控机制的图片得到了极大的丰富。非编码调节 sRNA 通过与靶标的不同序列特异性相互作用方式，有助于转录和转录后基因调控。miRNA（miRNA），指导转录后基因沉默，已被发现有助于植物和动物的多种发育程序。在这里，我们提供了 miRNA 和其他小 RNA 的产生和作用的概述，以及它们对植物中一个重要发育过程——花形成的贡献。
