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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Methylation as a Crucial Step in Plant microRNA Biogenesis

TLDR
It is shown that plant microRNAs (miRNAs) have a naturally occurring methyl group on the ribose of the last nucleotide, a new and crucial step in plant miRNA biogenesis and have profound implications in the function of miRNAs.
Abstract
Methylation on the base or the ribose is prevalent in eukaryotic ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and is thought to be crucial for ribosome biogenesis and function. Artificially introduced 2'-O-methyl groups in small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can stabilize siRNAs in serum without affecting their activities in RNA interference in mammalian cells. Here, we show that plant microRNAs (miRNAs) have a naturally occurring methyl group on the ribose of the last nucleotide. Whereas methylation of rRNAs depends on guide RNAs, the methyltransferase protein HEN1 is sufficient to methylate miRNA/miRNA* duplexes. Our studies uncover a new and crucial step in plant miRNA biogenesis and have profound implications in the function of miRNAs.

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Journal ArticleDOI

Biogenesis of small RNAs in animals.

TL;DR: This Review summarizes the current knowledge of how these intriguing molecules are generated in animal cells.
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MicroRNAs AND THEIR REGULATORY ROLES IN PLANTS

TL;DR: The importance of miRNA-directed gene regulation during plant development is now particularly clear and typically at the cores of gene regulatory networks, targeting genes that are themselves regulators, such as those encoding transcription factors and F-box proteins.
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MicroRNA biogenesis: coordinated cropping and dicing

TL;DR: These tiny, ∼22-nucleotide, RNAs control several pathways including developmental timing, haematopoiesis, organogenesis, apoptosis, cell proliferation and possibly even tumorigenesis.
Journal ArticleDOI

Small silencing RNAs: an expanding universe

TL;DR: Since the discovery in 1993 of the first small silencing RNA, a dizzying number of small RNA classes have been identified, including microRNAs (miRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs.
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microRNA-Directed Phasing during Trans-Acting siRNA Biogenesis in Plants

TL;DR: Data support a model in which miRNA-guided formation of a 5' or 3' terminus within pre-ta-siRNA transcripts, followed by RDR6-dependent formation of dsRNA and Dicer-like processing, yields phased ta-siRNAs that negatively regulate other genes.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

MicroRNAs: Genomics, Biogenesis, Mechanism, and Function

TL;DR: Although they escaped notice until relatively recently, miRNAs comprise one of the more abundant classes of gene regulatory molecules in multicellular organisms and likely influence the output of many protein-coding genes.
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A cellular function for the RNA-interference enzyme Dicer in the maturation of the let-7 small temporal RNA.

TL;DR: In Drosophila melanogaster a developmentally regulated precursor RNA is cleaved by an RNA interference-like mechanism to produce mature let-7 stRNA, which regulates developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans and probably in other bilateral animals.
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Genetic and Functional Diversification of Small RNA Pathways in Plants

TL;DR: It is concluded that proliferation and diversification of DCL and RDR genes during evolution of plants contributed to specialization of small RNA-directed pathways for development, chromatin structure, and defense.
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CARPEL FACTORY, a Dicer Homolog, and HEN1, a Novel Protein, Act in microRNA Metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana

TL;DR: HEN1 is a new player in miRNAs accumulation in Arabidopsis, and HEN1 homologs in metazoans may have a similar function of the two genes, possibly in miRNA metabolism.
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An RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Gene in Arabidopsis Is Required for Posttranscriptional Gene Silencing Mediated by a Transgene but Not by a Virus

TL;DR: It is proposed that the role of SDE1 is to synthesize a double-stranded RNA initiator of posttranscriptional gene silencing, according to this idea, when a virus induces posttranscriptal genesilencing, the virus-encoded RNA polymerase would produce the double-Stranded RNA and Sde1 would be redundant.
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