School of Biological Sciences & Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68588-0666, USA.
Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Shandong Institute of Energy Technology, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China.
New Phytol. 2021 Dec;232(5):1959-1973. doi: 10.1111/nph.17691. Epub 2021 Sep 16.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are essential regulators of gene expression in metazoans and plants. In plants, most miRNAs are generated from primary miRNA transcripts (pri-miRNAs), which are processed by the Dicer-like 1 (DCL1) complex along with accessory proteins. Serrate-Associated Protein 1 (SEAP1), a conserved splicing-related protein, has been studied in human and yeast. However, the functions of SEAP1 in plants remain elusive. Lack of SEAP1 results in embryo lethality and knockdown of SEAP1 by an artificial miRNA (amiR ) causes pleiotropic developmental defects and reduction in miRNA accumulation. SEAP1 associates with the DCL1 complex, and may promote the interaction of the DCL1 complexes with pri-miRNAs. SEAP1 also enhances pri-miRNA accumulation, but does not affect pri-miRNA transcription, suggesting it may indirectly or directly stabilize pri-miRNAs. In addition, SEAP1 affects the splicing of some pri-miRNAs and intron retention of messenger RNAs at global levels. Our findings uncover both conserved and novel functions of SEAP1 in plants. Besides the role as a splicing factor, SEPA1 may promote miRNA biogenesis by positively modulating pri-miRNA splicing, processing and/or stability.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) 是真核生物和植物中基因表达的重要调控因子。在植物中,大多数 miRNAs 是从初级 miRNA 转录本 (pri-miRNAs) 产生的,这些转录本由 Dicer-like 1 (DCL1) 复合物与辅助蛋白共同加工。Serrate-Associated Protein 1 (SEAP1) 是一种保守的剪接相关蛋白,在人类和酵母中都有研究。然而,SEAP1 在植物中的功能仍不清楚。缺乏 SEAP1 会导致胚胎致死,而人工 miRNA (amiR) 敲低 SEAP1 会导致多种发育缺陷和 miRNA 积累减少。SEAP1 与 DCL1 复合物相关联,并可能促进 DCL1 复合物与 pri-miRNAs 的相互作用。SEAP1 还可以增强 pri-miRNA 的积累,但不影响 pri-miRNA 的转录,表明它可能间接或直接稳定 pri-miRNAs。此外,SEAP1 还影响某些 pri-miRNAs 的剪接和信使 RNA 在内含子保留的全局水平。我们的研究结果揭示了 SEAP1 在植物中具有保守和新的功能。除了作为剪接因子的作用外,SEPA1 还可以通过正向调节 pri-miRNA 的剪接、加工和/或稳定性来促进 miRNA 的生物发生。