Small RNAs and the regulation of cis-natural antisense transcripts in Arabidopsis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In spite of large intergenic spaces in plant and animal genomes, 7% to 30% of genes in the genomes encode overlapping cis-natural antisense transcripts (cis-NATs). The widespread occurrence of cis-NATs suggests an evolutionary advantage for this type of genomic arrangement. Experimental evidence for the regulation of two cis-NAT gene pairs by natural antisense transcripts-generated small interfering RNAs (nat-siRNAs) via the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway has been reported in Arabidopsis. However, the extent of siRNA-mediated regulation of cis-NAT genes is still unclear in any genome.

Results

The hallmarks of RNAi regulation of NATs are 1) inverse regulation of two genes in a cis-NAT pair by environmental and developmental cues and 2) generation of siRNAs by cis-

SUBMITTER: Jin H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2262095 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature