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Enhanced microRNA accumulation through stemloop-adjacent introns

Rebecca Schwab1, Corinna Speth, Sascha Laubinger

  • 1Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, UPR2357, Strasbourg 67084, France.

EMBO Reports
|May 11, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Plant introns located 3' of microRNA (miRNA) stemloops enhance mature miRNA accumulation. This suggests a coordination between intron splicing and miRNA processing for regulating gene expression.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Plant Science
  • Genetics

Background:

  • MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial regulators of gene expression, derived from precursor RNAs.
  • Primary miRNA transcripts often contain introns, whose role in miRNA biogenesis is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of introns in plant microRNA biogenesis.
  • To elucidate the mechanism by which introns affect mature miRNA accumulation.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of primary miRNA transcripts and their intronic regions.
  • Investigating miRNA processing and stability in wild-type and mutant plants (e.g., dicer-like 1 mutants).

Main Results:

  • Introns situated 3' to the miRNA stemloop significantly promote mature miRNA accumulation.
  • Reduced miRNA production (in dicer-like 1 mutants) correlates with increased splicing of these promoter introns.
  • Alternative polyadenylation leading to intron-less miRNA transcripts may allow for differential miRNA level adjustment.

Conclusions:

  • Introns can act as positive regulators of mature miRNA levels in plants, likely impacting miRNA processing or stability.
  • Plant miRNA biogenesis exhibits tight physical and temporal coordination with intron splicing.
  • Alternative polyadenylation offers another layer of miRNA regulation, potentially enabling tissue-specific control.

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