The evolution and diversification of Dicers in plants

Rogerio Margis, Adriana F. Fusaro, Neil A. Smith, Shaun J. Curtin, John M. Watson, E. Jean Finnegan, Peter M. Waterhouse

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

269 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most multicellular organisms regulate developmental transitions by microRNAs, which are generated by an enzyme, Dicer. Insects and fungi have two Dicer-like genes, and many animals have only one, yet the plant, Arabidopsis, has four. Examining the poplar and rice genomes revealed that they contain five and six Dicer-like genes, respectively. Analysis of these genes suggests that plants require a basic set of four Dicer types which were present before the divergence of mono- and dicotyledonous plants (∼200 million years ago), but after the divergence of plants from green algae. A fifth type of Dicer seems to have evolved in monocots.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2442-2450
Number of pages9
JournalFEBS Letters
Volume580
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2006
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Dicer
  • Evolution
  • RNAi

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