Peering through the pore: The role of AtTPR in nuclear transport and development

In eukaryotes, most genetic material resides in a separate membrane-bound compartment known as the nucleus. Transport of cargo, such as RNA and protein, across this barrier is facilitated by the nuclear pore complex (NPC). In the July issue of Plant Physiology, we showed that a component of the NPC, Arabidopsis thaliana TPR (AtTPR), is required for normal development. Two striking phenotypes of attpr mutants are that they are early flowering and show an accumulation of polyadenylated RNA in the nucleus. In addition, the expression of several microRNAs (miRNAs) is reduced in attpr mutants. In this addendum, we have examined the effect of AtTPR on the expression of miRNA targets. Our results show that miRNA targets are more likely to be upregulated than other transcripts in attpr mutants. For example, when comparing the nuclear RNA pool between wild-type and attpr plants, we found that 75% of the miRNA targets showing a significant change in transcript level are upregulated in attpr mutants. Although the targets of some miRNAs were upregulated, other miRNA targets were relatively unaffected by attpr mutations. Thus it appears that AtTPR may be required for the proper expression or localization of a subset of miRNAs.