Architecture of RNA influences plant biology
Abstract The majority of the genome is transcribed to RNA in living organisms. RNA transcripts can form astonishing arrays of secondary and tertiary structures via Watson-Crick, Hoogsteen or wobble base pairing. In vivo, RNA folding is not a simple thermodynamics event of minimizing free energy. Instead, the process is constrained by transcription, RNA binding proteins (RBPs), steric factors and micro-environment. RNA secondary structure (RSS) plays myriad roles in numerous biological processes, such as RNA processing, stability, transportation and translation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Emerging evidence has also implicated RSS in RNA trafficking, liquid-liquid phase separation and plant responses to environmental variations such as temperature and salinity. At the molecular level, RSS is correlated with regulating splicing, polyadenylation, protein systhsis, and miRNA biogenesis and functions. In this review, we summarized newly reported methods for probing RSS in vivo and functions and mechanisms of RSS in plant physiology.