摘要
MicroRNAs are 21-to 24-nucleotide long,endogenous non-coding RNAs in eukaryotes(Hannon,2002).Mature microRNAs generated by Dicer are incorporated into an RNA-induced silencing complex(RISC),resulting in gene silencing via the cleavage of a target mRNA or the repression of target mRNA translation(Qi et al,2005).Thus,microRNAs play a key role in post-transcriptional gene silencing,and microRNA-based gene silencing pathways are critical in developmental regulation,biotic and abiotic adaptations,and hormone responses in plants(Baulcombe,2004;Jones-Rhoades et al.,2006).
