College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Beijing Forestry University, No. 35, Tsing Hua East Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China.
College of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Jishou University, Jishou 416000, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Mar 13;21(6):1971. doi: 10.3390/ijms21061971.
Seed plants usually undergo various developmental phase transitions throughout their lifespan, mainly including juvenile-to-adult and vegetative-to-reproductive transitions, as well as developmental transitions within organ/tissue formation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), as a class of small endogenous non-coding RNAs, are involved in the developmental phase transitions in plants by negatively regulating the expression of their target genes at the post-transcriptional level. In recent years, cumulative evidence has revealed that five miRNAs, miR156, miR159, miR166, miR172, and miR396, are key regulators of developmental phase transitions in plants. In this review, the advanced progress of the five miRNAs and their targets in regulating plant developmental transitions, especially in storage organ formation, are summarized and discussed, combining our own findings with the literature. In general, the functions of the five miRNAs and their targets are relatively conserved, but their functional divergences also emerge to some extent. In addition, potential research directions of miRNAs in regulating plant developmental phase transitions are prospected.
种子植物在其生命周期中通常会经历各种发育阶段转变，主要包括幼年期到成年期和营养生长到生殖生长的转变，以及器官/组织形成过程中的发育转变。miRNAs（microRNAs）作为一类小的内源性非编码 RNA，通过在转录后水平负调控靶基因的表达，参与植物的发育阶段转变。近年来，越来越多的证据表明，miR156、miR159、miR166、miR172 和 miR396 这 5 种 miRNAs 是植物发育阶段转变的关键调节因子。本综述结合我们自己的研究结果和文献，总结和讨论了这 5 种 miRNAs 及其靶基因在调节植物发育转变，特别是在贮藏器官形成中的最新进展。总的来说，这 5 种 miRNAs 及其靶基因的功能相对保守，但也在一定程度上出现了功能上的分歧。此外，还展望了 miRNAs 调节植物发育阶段转变的潜在研究方向。
