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Developmental biology

MicroRNAs surface in the leaf

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 5, page 244 (2004)Cite this article

The leaves of monocots such as maize are quite different from those of dicots such as A. thaliana, yet in both plants, the upper (adaxial) and the lower (abaxial) surfaces can be distinguished clearly — for example, in A. thaliana, the top surface is waxier and the lower surface contains pores for gaseous exchange. They also differ genetically, with the upper side expressing three genes, PHABULOSA ( PHB ), PHAVOLUTA ( PHV ) and REVOLUTA ( REV ), that are downregulated in the lower surface.

How is this polarity controlled? The fact that PHB, PHV and REV transcripts can be cleaved in vitro by two complementary miRNAs (miRNA165 and miRNA166) indicates that the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway might define the expression domain of this family of genes. Michelle Juarez and colleagues confirmed this in maize by cloning and characterizing the expression of the maize homologue of REV, which is defined by the previously described rolled leaf 1 (rdl1) mutant. miRNA166 and RDL1 have complementary expression patterns; moreover, mutations that disrupt the miRNA target site cause dominant alleles of rdl1, phb and phv, in which transcripts persist in the lower leaf surface.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Kidner, C. A. & Martienssen, R. A. Spatially restricted microRNA directs leaf polarity through ARGONAUTE1. Nature 428, 81–84 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Juarez, M. T. et al. microRNA-mediated repression of rolled leaf1 specifies maize leaf polarity. Nature 428, 84–88 (2004)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Bartel, D. P. MicroRNAs: genomics, biogenesis, mechanism, and function. Cell 116, 281–297 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors
  1. Tanita Casci
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Casci, T. MicroRNAs surface in the leaf. Nat Rev Genet 5, 244 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1341

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