A pathogenic non-coding RNA induces changes in dynamic DNA methylation of ribosomal RNA genes in host plants.

ABSTRACT: Viroids are plant-pathogenic non-coding RNAs able to interfere with as yet poorly known host-regulatory pathways and to cause alterations recognized as diseases. The way in which these RNAs coerce the host to express symptoms remains to be totally deciphered. In recent years, diverse studies have proposed a close interplay between viroid-induced pathogenesis and RNA silencing, supporting the belief that viroid-derived small RNAs mediate the post-transcriptional cleavage of endogenous mRNAs by acting as elicitors of symptoms expression. Although the evidence supporting the role of viroid-derived small RNAs in pathogenesis is robust, the possibility that this phenomenon can be a more complex process, also involving viroid-induced alterations in plant gene expression at transcriptional levels

SUBMITTER: Martinez G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3919566 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature