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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Describing a Transcription Factor Dependent Regulation of the MicroRNA Transcriptome
Published on: June 15, 2016
Transcriptional control of gene expression by microRNAs
Basel Khraiwesh1, M Asif Arif, Gotelinde I Seumel
1Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schaenzlestrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) control gene expression in animals and plants. Like another class of small RNAs, siRNAs, they affect gene expression posttranscriptionally. While siRNAs in addition act in transcriptional gene silencing, a role of miRNAs in transcriptional regulation has been less clear. We show here that in moss Physcomitrella patens mutants without a DICER-LIKE1b gene, maturation of miRNAs is normal but cleavage of target RNAs is abolished and levels of these transcripts are drastically reduced. These mutants accumulate miRNA:target-RNA duplexes and show hypermethylation of the genes encoding target RNAs, leading to gene silencing. This pathway occurs also in the wild-type upon hormone treatment. We propose that initiation of epigenetic silencing by DNA methylation depends on the ratio of the miRNA and its target RNA.
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