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Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Screening and Identification of RNA Silencing Suppressors from Secreted Effectors of Plant Pathogens
Published on: February 3, 2020
Post-transcriptional gene silencing in plants: a double-edged sword
Xinyan Zhang1, Ying Zhu1, Huihui Wu1
1State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Abstract:
In plants, post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) protects the genome from foreign genes and restricts the expression of certain endogenous genes for proper development. Here, we review the recent progress about how the unwanted PTGS is avoided in plants. As a decision-making step of PTGS, aberrant transcripts from most endogenous coding genes are strictly sorted to the bidirectional RNA decay pathways in cytoplasm but not to the short interference RNA (siRNA)-mediated PTGS, with the exception of a few development-relevant endogenous siRNA-producing genes. We also discuss a finely balanced PTGS threshold model that plants fully take advantage of the power of PTGS without self-harm.
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