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 language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2442-2450 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | FEBS Letters |
Volume | 580 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Dicer
- Evolution
- RNAi