Small RNAs: Big Impact on Plant Development

Corresponding author: Minsung Kim

While the role of proteins in determining cell identity has been extensively studied, the contribution of small noncoding RNA molecules such as miRNAs and siRNAs has been also recognised. miRNAs bind to complementary sites in target mRNA molecules to trigger the degradation or translational inhibition (翻译抑制) of those targets. Recent studies have revealed that miRNAs play pivotal (关键的) roles in key developmental processes such as patterning of the embryo, meristem (分生组织), leaf, and flower. Furthermore, these miRNAs have been recruited (招募) throughout plant evolution into pathways that create diverse plant organ forms and shapes. This review focuses on the roles of miRNAs in establishing plant cell identity during key plant development processes and creating morphological diversity during plant evolution.

昨天刚一篇small RNA接到金鱼草花色变异的Science文章，今天给大家带来一篇Trends in Plant Science上关于small RNA在植物发育中的作用的综述文章。

关于蛋白在决定细胞特性方面的研究已经研究的很深入了，小的非编码RNA分子如miRNA和siRNA对于细胞特性决定方面的影响也开始受到了关注。miRNA会结合到目标mRNA分子的互补位点以诱导起降解或是翻译抑制。近期的研究显示miRNA在关键的发育进程起作用，诸如胚胎、分生组织、叶和花的模式建成。此外，植物会通过进化招募这些miRNA到某个通路上，以创造多样的植物器官形式和形态。本文主要关注miRNA在植物关键发育进程中细胞决定建立方面以及其在植物进化过程中创造形态多样性方面的作用。

个人简历：1988-1995年，韩国汉城国立大学，园艺科学，学士；1995-1998年，美国加州大学戴维斯分校，John Harada实验室，遗传学硕士；1998-2003年，美国加州大学戴维斯分校，Neelima Sinha实验室，遗传学博士；2003-2007年，英国EMBO & Human Frontier Science Program Fellow John Innes Centre，Enrico Coen实验室；2007-至今，英国曼彻斯特大学，讲师。

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2017.09.009