Lindbo John A
Campbell's Seeds, Campbells Soup Company, R&D, Davis, CA, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2012;894:1-16. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-882-5_1.
RNA interference, or RNAi, is arguably one of the most significant discoveries in biology in the last several decades. First recognized in plants (where it was called post-transcriptional gene silencing, PTGS) RNAi is a gene down-regulation mechanism since demonstrated to exist in all eukaryotes. In RNAi, small RNAs (of about 21-24 nucleotides) function to guide specific effector proteins (members of the Argonaute protein family) to a target nucleotide sequence by complementary base pairing. The effector protein complex then down-regulates the expression of the targeted RNA or DNA. Small RNA-directed gene regulation systems were independently discovered (and named) in plants, fungi, worms, flies, and mammalian cells. Collectively, PTGS, RNA silencing, and co-suppression (in plants); quelling (in fungi and algae); and RNAi (in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila, and mammalian cells) are all examples of small RNA-based gene regulation systems. From the very beginning, plant research has had a major impact on our understanding of RNAi. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an historical perspective and overview on the discovery, characterization, and applications of RNAi in plants.
RNA干扰，即RNAi，可以说是过去几十年来生物学领域最重要的发现之一。RNAi最早在植物中被发现（当时被称为转录后基因沉默，PTGS），它是一种基因下调机制，现已证明存在于所有真核生物中。在RNAi过程中，小RNA（约21 - 24个核苷酸）通过互补碱基配对引导特定的效应蛋白（AGO蛋白家族成员）靶向特定的核苷酸序列。然后，效应蛋白复合物下调靶向RNA或DNA的表达。小RNA介导的基因调控系统在植物、真菌、蠕虫、果蝇和哺乳动物细胞中被独立发现（并命名）。总体而言，PTGS、RNA沉默和共抑制（在植物中）；基因压制（在真菌和藻类中）；以及RNAi（在秀丽隐杆线虫、果蝇和哺乳动物细胞中）都是基于小RNA的基因调控系统的例子。从一开始，植物研究就对我们理解RNAi产生了重大影响。本章的目的是提供关于RNAi在植物中的发现、表征和应用的历史视角及概述。
