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  • Review Article
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Plant microRNA maturation and function

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 27, pages 55–70 (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Since their discovery in 2002, much has been learnt about plant microRNAs (miRNAs), including the genes that encode them and the target genes that they regulate; the microprocessor complex that produces the miRNAs and the effector ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins with which miRNAs associate; the mechanisms of target-RNA recognition by miRNAs and miRNA modes of action; miRNA subcellular localization; and miRNA mobility between cells and within plants. In this Review, we discuss new mechanistic insights into miRNA maturation and AGO loading, the subcellular locations of miRNA processing and activity and partitioning of miRNAs between the nucleus and cytoplasm, which in turn affects their intercellular mobility. We also discuss intriguing connections between miRNAs and the translation process and present hypotheses to be tested by future studies.

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Fig. 1: An overview of microRNA biogenesis and function in plants.
Fig. 2: Mechanisms and regulation of microRNA processing.
Fig. 3: HYL1 function and regulation in microRNA biogenesis and activity.
Fig. 4: AGO1 loading in the nucleus and cytoplasm.
Fig. 5: Translation repression versus transcript cleavage.

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Acknowledgements

Research on small RNAs in the Chen laboratory is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32488102 and 32070614), Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, 2023YFC3402200), Qidong-SLS Innovation Fund and the National Center for Protein Sciences at Peking University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Modulation Research, Peking-Tsinghua Joint Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Yu Yu & Xuemei Chen

  2. Beijing Advanced Center of RNA Biology (BEACON), Peking University, Beijing, China

    Yu Yu & Xuemei Chen

  3. State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Sciences and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Han Wang

  4. College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Chenjiang You

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Glossary

Elongator

A highly conserved protein complex in eukaryotes that has crucial roles in diverse molecular processes, including transcription elongation, tRNA modification and protein acetylation.

Mediator

A large protein complex that recruits RNA polymerase II to genes for transcription initiation of both protein-coding genes and non-coding RNA genes.

miRNA*

Refers to the passenger strand of a mature miRNA duplex, which is typically degraded; however, some miRNA* may be incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complex and mediate gene silencing.

Processing bodies

(P-bodies). Cytoplasmic membrane-less organelles that increase in size and number in stress conditions. P-bodies consist of RNA and proteins associated with mRNA decay and function in both mRNA degradation and translation repression.

Ribo-seq

A high-throughput sequencing technique used for translatome profiling, which enables the identification of ribosome-protected regions in RNAs as well as their translational status, such as ribosome pausing and ribosome collisions.

Secondary phased small interfering RNAs

siRNAs that are processed from double-stranded RNA in a phased manner. They are ‘secondary’ because their biogenesis is triggered by a ‘primary’ small RNA (miRNA or siRNA).

siRNA bodies

Cytoplasmic foci that are formed by AGO7, SGS3 and RDR6 and are responsible for tasiRNA production.

Stress granules

Stress-induced cytoplasmic membrane-less granules, which comprise RNA and translation-related proteins and act as mRNA storage sites to help the cell cope with and recover from stress.

Trans-acting siRNAs

Often abbreviated as ‘tasiRNAs’, a subset of secondary phased siRNAs with a demonstrated role in the regulation of gene expression in trans (similar to miRNAs).

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Yu, Y., Wang, H., You, C. et al. Plant microRNA maturation and function. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 27, 55–70 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-025-00871-y

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