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Cell-to-cell and long-distance siRNA movement in plants: mechanisms and biological implications.
Journal article

Cell-to-cell and long-distance siRNA movement in plants: mechanisms and biological implications.

  • Brosnan CA Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Z), Department of Biology, Universitätstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Voinnet O
  • 2011-08-25
Published in:
  • Current opinion in plant biology. - 2011
Arabidopsis
Cell Communication
Epigenesis, Genetic
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Morphogenesis
Plants
Plants, Genetically Modified
RNA Interference
RNA, Small Interfering
Signal Transduction
Transgenes
English In plants, once triggered within a single-cell type, transgene-mediated RNA-silencing can move from cell-to-cell and over long distances through the vasculature to alter gene expression in tissues remote form the primary sites of its initiation. Although, transgenic approaches have been instrumental to genetically decipher the components and channels required for mobile silencing, the possible existence and biological significance of comparable endogenous mobile silencing pathways has remained an open question. Here, we summarize the results from recent studies that shed light on the molecular nature of the nucleic acids involved and on existing endogenous mechanisms that allow long-distance gene regulation and epigenetic modifications. We further elaborate on these and other results to propose a unified view of various non-cell autonomous RNA silencing processes that appear to differ in their genetic requirement and modes of perpetuation in plants.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/223077
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