Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK.
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2011 Apr;14(2):168-73. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2010.11.006. Epub 2010 Dec 17.
Microarray analysis and new sequencing technologies have revealed that the majority of the genome is transcribed in many eukaryotes. Much of the RNA appears to be non-coding and an ongoing debate is how much of a functional role it has. Different mechanisms by which ncRNA can be regulatory have been described: direct ncRNA effects on transcription; recruitment of chromatin modifiers; formation of silent nuclear compartments. These have been documented chiefly in yeasts and mammals but examples are now appearing in plants. To date RNA-mediated transcriptional silencing studies in plants have focused on siRNAs, but data now show longer ncRNAs are also involved in this silencing. Roles for long ncRNAs in the phenotypic plasticity of plants are also suggested by whole genome analysis showing widespread effects of different external cues on ncRNA expression.
微阵列分析和新的测序技术表明，真核生物的大部分基因组都在转录。大部分 RNA 似乎是非编码的，目前仍在争论它有多少功能作用。ncRNA 可以通过不同的机制发挥调节作用：直接影响转录的 ncRNA 作用；募集染色质修饰物；形成沉默的核区室。这些主要在酵母和哺乳动物中得到了证实，但现在在植物中也有例子。迄今为止，植物中 RNA 介导的转录沉默研究主要集中在 siRNA 上，但现在的数据表明，长 ncRNA 也参与了这种沉默。全基因组分析显示，不同的外部信号对 ncRNA 表达有广泛的影响，这表明长 ncRNA 在植物表型可塑性中也起着重要作用。
