Today, we published a paper in Plant Cell on the functions of two ancient plant microRNAs (miR156 and miR390) in Physcomitrella patens. Both miRNAs are known to control various aspects of developmental timing in flowering plants, but their functions in basal lineages were unclear. Our paper shows that 1) miR156 controls the rate of bud formation in Physcomitrella, 2) that a single miR156 target (PpSBP3 .. an SPL family gene) plays a major role in this phenotype, and 3) miR156 also directly targets the major TAS3 tasiRNA precursor in Physcomitrella. These results represent the first functional description of a conserved miRNA family in a lower plant, and demonstrate that significant conservation in gene regulatory networks controlling developmental timing in the plant lineage.
Congratulations to Sung Hyun and Ceyda on the publication of this paper!
The full text can be found here: http://www.plantcell.org/content/early/2012/12/21/tpc.112.103176.abstract
Congratulations to Sung Hyun and Ceyda on the publication of this paper!
The full text can be found here: http://www.plantcell.org/content/early/2012/12/21/tpc.112.103176.abstract