Small RNAs are on the move

Daniel H. Chitwood and Marja C. P. Timmermans ()
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Daniel H. Chitwood: Section of Plant Biology, University of California at Davis
Marja C. P. Timmermans: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Nature, 2010, vol. 467, issue 7314, 415-419

Abstract: How small RNAs move The gene-silencing properties of RNA interference (RNAi) — the gene-regulation mechanism involving RNA species of 21–24 nucleotides in length termed microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) — can spread from cell to cell in both plants and animals. The identity of the mobile silencing signal that makes this communication possible has remained elusive. Daniel Chitwood and Marja Timmermans review recent studies that have shed light on the identity of this signal in plants. They conclude that, although almost every known RNAi pathway in plants has the ability to move between cells (some at least through the vasculature), the precise identity of the mobile signal is not yet established. Small RNA duplexes are a leading candidate for the role, but single-stranded small RNAs also seem to be mobile in some instances. Also unresolved are the questions of whether the RNAs are protein-bound or free when in transit, and whether the movement is through passive diffusion or is an active process.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09351

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