Transposon-derived small RNAs triggered by miR845 mediate genome dosage response in Arabidopsis.

ABSTRACT: Chromosome dosage has substantial effects on reproductive isolation and speciation in both plants and animals, but the underlying mechanisms are largely obscure ¹ . Transposable elements in animals can regulate hybridity through maternal small RNA ² , whereas small RNAs in plants have been postulated to regulate dosage response via neighboring imprinted genes^3,4. Here we show that a highly conserved microRNA in plants, miR845, targets the tRNA^Met primer-binding site (PBS) of long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons in Arabidopsis pollen, and triggers the accumulation of 21-22-nucleotide (nt) small RNAs in a dose-dependent fashion via RNA polymerase IV. We show that these epigenetically activated small interfering RNAs (easiRNAs) mediate hybrid

SUBMITTER: Borges F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5805582 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature