A complex system of small RNAs in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Zhao, T., Li, G. L., Mi, S. J., Li, S., Hannon, G. J., Wang, X. J., Qi, Y. J. (May 2007) A complex system of small RNAs in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Genes Dev, 21 (10). pp. 1190-1203. ISSN 0890-9369

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URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17470535
DOI: 10.1101/gad.1543507

Abstract

Endogenous small RNAs function in RNA interference (RNAi) pathways to control gene expression through mRNA cleavage, translational repression, or chromatin modification. Plants and animals contain many microRNAs (miRNAs) that play vital roles in development, including helping to specify cell type and tissue identity. To date, no miRNAs have been reported in unicellular organisms. Here we show that Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular green alga, encodes many miRNAs. We also show that a Chlamydomonas miRNA can direct the cleavage of its target mRNA in vivo and in vitro. We further show that the expression of some miRNAs/Candidates increases or decreases during Chlamydomonas gametogenesis. In addition to miRNAs, Chlamydomonas harbors other types of small RNAs including phased small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that are reminiscent of plant trans-acting siRNAs, as well as siRNAs originating from protein-coding genes and transposons. Our findings suggest that the miRNA pathway and some siRNA pathways are ancient mechanisms of gene regulation that evolved prior to the emergence of multicellularity.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: Chlamydomonas miRNA mRNA cleavage small RNA RNAi RISC TRANS-ACTING SIRNAS ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA MESSENGER-RNA REGULATORY ROLES INTERFERING RNA LAND PLANTS MICRORNAS BIOGENESIS TARGETS DNA
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > RNAi
organism description > plant
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Hannon lab
Depositing User: CSHL Librarian
Date: May 2007
Date Deposited: 29 Aug 2011 22:58
Last Modified: 01 Dec 2016 17:26
PMCID: PMC1865491
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/15297

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