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Gene expression

Small but dominant RNA

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 11, page 671 (2010)Cite this article

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A plant uses a 'self-incompatibility' mechanism to reject fertilization by pollen that is genetically too similar to itself. In Brassica species, this trait is controlled by three tightly linked, multiallelic loci and particularly by the genes encoding the male-specific protein S-locus protein 11 (SP11) and its female-specific receptor S-receptor kinase (SRK). Rejection occurs if the parent plants carry the same combination of SP11 and SRK alleles (known as the 'S haplotype'). But the rejection response also depends on the interaction between dominant and recessive S haplotypes within the pollen-generating plant. In these diploid plants, recessive alleles are 'masked' in incompatibility reactions. For example, pollen from a heterozygous plant that carries a dominant haplotype (S9) and a recessive haplotype (S60) will still be accepted by a homozygous S60 plant, as the expression of the donor S60 allele will be suppressed (see the figure).

the epigenetic silencing of recessive alleles by dominant ones through small RNAs could represent a general mechanism

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Tarutani, Y. et al. Trans-acting small RNA determines dominance relationships in Brassica self-incompatibility. Nature 466, 983–986 (2010)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Pastinen, T. Genome-wide allele-specific analysis: insights into regulatory variation. Nature Rev. Genet. 11, 533–538 (2010)

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Authors
  1. Tanita Casci
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Casci, T. Small but dominant RNA. Nat Rev Genet 11, 671 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2875

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