MicroRNAs in plants: Possible contributions to phenotypic diversity

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression in eukaryotes. In plants, most miRNAs exist in multiple copies throughout the genome and many of these miRNAs target multiple messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts. Mutations at miRNAs in natural populations could facilitate evolutionary changes within and between species because of their positions at critical positions in gene regulatory networks. Dissecting the contribution of miRNAs to plant evolution requires the identification of potentially functional mutations at miRNAs within and between species. Recently, we and others have published papers focused on this topic, laying the foundation for studying the contributions of miRNAs to the phenotypic diversification of plants.