Sammanfattning

tRNA-derived RNA fragments (tRFs) are 18-26 nucleotide small RNAs that are not random degradation products, but are rather specifically cleaved from mature tRNA transcripts. Abundant in stressed or viral-infected cells, the function and potential targets of tRFs are not known. We identified that in the unstressed wild-type male gamete containing pollen of flowering plants, and analogous reproductive structure in non-flowering plant species, tRFs accumulate to high levels. In the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana, tRFs are processed by Dicer-like 1 and incorporated into Argonaute1 (AGO1), akin to a microRNA. We utilized the fact that many plant small RNAs direct cleavage of their target transcripts to demonstrate that the tRF-AGO1 complex acts to specifically target and cleave endogenous transposable element (TE) mRNAs produced from transcriptionally active TEs. The data presented here demonstrate that tRFs are bona-fide regulatory microRNA-like small RNAs involved in the regulation of genome stability through the targeting of TE transcripts.

Nyckelord

angiosperms; arabidopsis; dna transposable elements; germ cells

Publicerad i

Nucleic Acids Research
2017, Volym: 45, nummer: 9, sidor: 5142-5152
Utgivare: Oxford University Press ({OUP})

SLU författare

• Martinez-Arias, Germán

  • Institutionen för växtbiologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    
  • Ohio State University

Associerade SLU-program

SLU Nätverk växtskydd


UKÄ forskningsämne

Genetik och förädling


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkx103

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/84474