Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO, 63132, USA.
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO, 63132, USA; Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 65211, USA.
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2021 Jun;61:102014. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2021.102014. Epub 2021 Feb 28.
When an mRNA enters into the RNA degradation pathway called RNA interference (RNAi), it is cleaved into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that then target complementary mRNAs for destruction. The consequence of entry into RNAi is mRNA degradation, post-transcriptional silencing and in some cases transcriptional silencing. RNAi functions as a defense against transposable element and virus activity, and in plants, RNAi additionally plays a role in development by regulating some genes. However, it is unknown how specific transcripts are selected for RNAi, and how most genic mRNAs steer clear. This Current Opinion article explores the key question of how RNAs are selected for entry into RNAi, and proposes models that enable the cell to distinguish between transcripts to translate versus destroy.
当 mRNA 进入称为 RNA 干扰 (RNAi) 的 RNA 降解途径时，它会被切割成小干扰 RNA (siRNA)，然后靶向互补的 mRNA 进行破坏。进入 RNAi 的后果是 mRNA 降解、转录后沉默，在某些情况下还会发生转录沉默。RNAi 作为一种防御转座元件和病毒活性的机制，在植物中，RNAi 还通过调节一些基因在发育中发挥作用。然而，目前尚不清楚特定的转录本如何被选择用于 RNAi，以及大多数基因 mRNA 如何避开这种情况。本文探讨了一个关键问题，即细胞如何选择 RNA 进入 RNAi，并提出了一些模型，使细胞能够区分翻译和破坏的转录本。
