scholarly journals Long Non-Coding RNAs: Rising Regulators of Plant Reproductive Development

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tongtong Yu ◽  
Hongliang Zhu

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) exert a multitude of functions in regulating numerous biological processes. Recent studies have uncovered a growing number of lncRNAs within the plant genome. These molecules show striking tissue-specific expression patterns, suggesting that they exert regulatory functions in the growth and development processes of plants. Plant reproductive development is tightly regulated by both environmental and endogenous factors. As plant reproductive development is a crucial aspect of crop breeding, lncRNAs that modulate reproductive development are now particularly worth regarding. Here, we summarize findings that implicate lncRNAs in the control of plant reproductive development, especially in flowering control. Additionally, we elaborate on the regulation mechanisms of lncRNAs, tools for research on their function and mechanism, and potential directions of future research.

Author(s):  
X. Guo ◽  
W. Tan ◽  
C. Wang

Abstract Exosomes, the nanoscale phospholipid bilayer vesicles, enriched in selected proteins, nucleic acids and lipids, which they participated in a variety of biological processes in the body, including physiology and pathology. CircRNAs (circular RNAs) are a class of single-stranded closed molecules with tissue development specific expression patterns that have crucial regulatory functions in various diseases. Non-coding RNAs (such as microRNAs and long non‑coding RNAs) in exosomes have also been shown to play an important regulatory role in humans. However, little research has focused on exosomal circRNAs. Recently, CircRNAs have been identified to be enriched and stably expressed in exosomes. In this review, we summarize the biogenesis and biological functions of exosomes and circRNA, and further revealed the potential role of exosome-derived circRNA in different diseases. Besides, we propose its use as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic punctuation for diseases, especially in cancer.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inés González-Castellano ◽  
Chiara Manfrin ◽  
Alberto Pallavicini ◽  
Andrés Martínez-Lage

Abstract Background The common littoral shrimp Palaemon serratus is an economically important decapod resource in some European communities. Aquaculture practices prevent the genetic deterioration of wild stocks caused by overfishing and at the same time enhance the production. The biotechnological manipulation of sex-related genes has the proved potential to improve the aquaculture production but the scarcity of genomic data about P. serratus hinders these applications. RNA-Seq analysis has been performed on ovary and testis samples to generate a reference gonadal transcriptome. Differential expression analyses were conducted between three ovary and three testis samples sequenced by Illumina HiSeq 4000 PE100 to reveal sex-related genes with sex-biased or sex-specific expression patterns. Results A total of 224.5 and 281.1 million paired-end reads were produced from ovary and testis samples, respectively. De novo assembly of ovary and testis trimmed reads yielded a transcriptome with 39,186 transcripts. The 29.57% of the transcriptome retrieved at least one annotation and 11,087 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected between ovary and testis replicates. Six thousand two hundred seven genes were up-regulated in ovaries meanwhile 4880 genes were up-regulated in testes. Candidate genes to be involved in sexual development and gonadal development processes were retrieved from the transcriptome. These sex-related genes were discussed taking into account whether they were up-regulated in ovary, up-regulated in testis or not differentially expressed between gonads and in the framework of previous findings in other crustacean species. Conclusions This is the first transcriptome analysis of P. serratus gonads using RNA-Seq technology. Interesting findings about sex-related genes from an evolutionary perspective (such as Dmrt1) and for putative future aquaculture applications (Iag or vitellogenesis genes) are reported here. We provide a valuable dataset that will facilitate further research into the reproductive biology of this shrimp.


Author(s):  
Isabel Schwarz ◽  
Manuel Neumann ◽  
Rosario Vega ◽  
Xiaocai Xu ◽  
Letizia Cornaro ◽  
...  

The rise of data science in biology stimulates interdisciplinary collaborations to address fundamental questions. Here, we report the outcome of the first SINFONIA symposium focused on revealing the mechanisms governing plant reproductive development across biological scales. The intricate and dynamic target networks of known regulators of flower development remain poorly understood. To analyze development from the genome to the final floral organ morphology, high-resolution data that capture spatiotemporal regulatory activities are necessary and require advanced computational methods for analysis and modeling. Moreover, frameworks to share data, practices and approaches that facilitate the combination of varied expertise to advance the field are called for. Training young researchers in interdisciplinary approaches and science communication offers the opportunity to establish a collaborative mindset to shape future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 8686
Author(s):  
Meera Adishesh ◽  
Rafah Alnafakh ◽  
Duncan M. Baird ◽  
Rhiannon E. Jones ◽  
Shannon Simon ◽  
...  

Telomeres are transcribed as long non-coding RNAs called TERRAs (Telomeric repeat containing RNA) that participate in a variety of cellular regulatory functions. High telomerase activity (TA) is associated with endometrial cancer (EC). This study aimed to examine the levels of three TERRAs, transcribed at chromosomes 1q-2q-4q-10q-13q-22q, 16p and 20q in healthy (n = 23) and pathological (n = 24) human endometrium and to examine their association with cellular proliferation, TA and telomere lengths. EC samples demonstrated significantly reduced levels of TERRAs for Chromosome 16p (Ch-16p) (p < 0.002) and Chromosome 20q (Ch-20q) (p = 0.0006), when compared with the postmenopausal samples. No significant correlation was found between TERRA levels and TA but both Ch-16p and Ch-20q TERRA levels negatively correlated with the proliferative marker Ki67 (r = −0.35, p = 0.03 and r = −0.42, p = 0.01 respectively). Evaluation of single telomere length analysis (STELA) at XpYp telomeres demonstrated a significant shortening in EC samples when compared with healthy tissues (p = 0.002). We detected TERRAs in healthy human endometrium and observed altered individual TERRA-specific levels in malignant endometrium. The negative correlation of TERRAs with cellular proliferation along with their significant reduction in EC may suggest a role for TERRAs in carcinogenesis and thus future research should explore TERRAs as potential therapeutic targets in EC.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Zhou ◽  
Yuan Cheng ◽  
Chunpeng Wan ◽  
Youxin Yang ◽  
Jinyin Chen

The plant DNA-binding with one finger (Dof) gene family is a class of plant-specific transcription factors that play vital roles in many biological processes and response to stresses. In the present study, a total of 36 ClDof genes were identified in the watermelon genome, which were unevenly distributed on 10 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the ClDof proteins could be divided into nine groups, and the members in a particular group had similar motif arrangement and exon-intron structure. We then analyzed the expression patterns of nine selected ClDof genes in eight specific tissues by qRT-PCR, and the results showed that they have tissue-specific expression patterns. We also evaluated the expression levels of the nine selected ClDof genes under salt stress and ABA treatments using qRT-PCR, and they showed differential expression under these treatments, suggesting their important roles in stress response. Taken together, our results provide a basis for future research on the biological functions of Dof genes in watermelon.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Yue ◽  
Di Zhang ◽  
Huimin Dou ◽  
Xinyi Liu ◽  
Lewen Gao ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Nuclear factor-Y(NF-Y) is a heterotrimeric transcription factor commonly found in higher eukaryotes. It usually consists of three subunits: NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC, which binds to CCAAT sequences to regulate the expression of target genes. Although NF-Y proteins have been reported in many plants like Arabidopsis and wheat, a comprehensive and systematic analysis of NF-Y genes in tea plant has not yet been reported. Results In this study, a total of 35 CsNF-Y genes, including 10 CsNF-YA, 16 CsNF-YB, and 9 CsNF-YC genes, were identified in the sequenced genomes of tea plant. The conserved domains analysis and multiple alignments suggested that domains were conserved within subgroups but differed between subgroups in the CsNF-Y family. Functional prediction and protein interaction analysis were performed by phylogenetic analyses with orthologous genes. Further, expression pattern analysis in various tissues of tea plant by transcriptome data indicated that these genes play different roles in tea plant development and many exhibit tissue-specific expression patterns. Conclusions In this study, we characterized 35 CsNF-Ys based on their distributions on tea plant genome, gene structures, phylogenetic relationship with Orthologous NF-Y genes, and their expression patterns. This study provides extensive evaluation of the tea plant NF-Y family and may contribute to the future studies about the CsNF-Y gene family.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rehman Sarwar ◽  
Rui Geng ◽  
Lei Li ◽  
Yue Shan ◽  
Ke-Ming Zhu ◽  
...  

BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT (BZR) are transcriptional factors that bind to the DNA of targeted genes to regulate several plant growth and physiological processes in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, information on such genes in Brassica napus is minimal. Furthermore, the new reference Brassica napus genome offers an excellent opportunity to systematically characterize this gene family in B. napus. In our study, 21 BnaBZR genes were distributed across 19 chromosomes of B. napus and clustered into four subgroups based on Arabidopsis thaliana orthologs. Functional divergence analysis among these groups evident the shifting of evolutionary rate after the duplication events. In terms of structural analysis, the BnaBZR genes within each subgroup are highly conserved but are distinctive within groups. Organ-specific expression analyses of BnaBZR genes using RNA-seq data and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed complex expression patterns in plant tissues during stress conditions. In which genes belonging to subgroups III and IV were identified to play central roles in plant tolerance to salt, drought, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum stress. The insights from this study enrich our understanding of the B. napus BZR gene family and lay a foundation for future research in improving rape seed environmental adaptability.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4214
Author(s):  
Sutpirat Moonmuang ◽  
Parunya Chaiyawat ◽  
Salinee Jantrapirom ◽  
Dumnoensun Pruksakorn ◽  
Luca Lo Piccolo

Circulating cell-free nucleic acids recently became attractive targets to develop non-invasive diagnostic tools for cancer detection. Along with DNA and mRNAs, transcripts lacking coding potential (non-coding RNAs, ncRNAs) directly involved in the process of tumor pathogenesis have been recently detected in liquid biopsies. Interestingly, circulating ncRNAs exhibit specific expression patterns associated with cancer and suggest their role as novel biomarkers. However, the potential of circulating long ncRNAs (c-lncRNAs) to be markers in osteosarcoma (OS) is still elusive. In this study we performed a systematic review to identify thirteen c-lncRNAs whose altered expression in blood associate with OS. We herein discuss the potential impact that these c-lncRNAs may have on clinical decision-making in the management of OS. Overall, we aimed to provide novel insights that can contribute to the development of future precision medicine in oncology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (18) ◽  
pp. 4646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keqin Li ◽  
Yuanliangzi Tian ◽  
Ya Yuan ◽  
Xiaolan Fan ◽  
Mingyao Yang ◽  
...  

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs longer than 200 nucleotides (nt). LncRNAs have high spatiotemporal specificity, and secondary structures have been preserved throughout evolution. They have been implicated in a range of biological processes and diseases and are emerging as key regulators of gene expression at the epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional levels. Comparative analyses of lncRNA functions among multiple organisms have suggested that some of their mechanisms seem to be conserved. Transcriptome studies have found that some Drosophila lncRNAs have highly specific expression patterns in embryos, nerves, and gonads. In vivo studies of lncRNAs have revealed that dysregulated expression of lncRNAs in Drosophila may result in impaired embryo development, impaired neurological and gonadal functions, and poor stress resistance. In this review, we summarize the epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional mechanisms of lncRNAs and mainly focus on recent insights into the transcriptome studies and biological functions of lncRNAs in Drosophila.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deding Su ◽  
Wei Xiang ◽  
Ling Wen ◽  
Wang Lu ◽  
Yuan Shi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As the key regulators in BR signaling, BES1 family genes regulate thousands of target genes involved in various development processes. So far, the functions of BES1 family are poorly understood in tomato, and a comprehensive genomic and expressional analysis is worth to conduct for this family. Results Here, nine SlBES1 family members were identified in tomato and classified into five groups based on the conserved motif, gene structure and phylogenetic analysis. Synteny among tomato, Arabidopsis, pepper and rice were further analyzed to obtain insights into evolutionary characteristics. Several cis-elements related to hormone, stress and plant development were exhibited in the promoter regions of SlBES1 family genes. Subcellular localization showed seven members localized both in the nucleus and cytoplasm, implying the presence of dephosphorylated and phosphorylated form of these seven proteins, furthermore, five of them possessed transcription activation activity whereas the left two functioned as transcriptional repressors. Another two members, however, neither localized in the nucleus nor had transactivation activity. Besides, SlBES1.8 showed flower-specific expression while other members expressed ubiquitously in all organs. Moreover, SlBES1 genes exhibited variational expression in response to nine principal plant hormones. Notably, the expression levels of SlBES1 genes presented a dominant downregulated trend in response to stresses. Conclusions In this study, we systematically analyzed the genomic characterization of SlBES1 family, together with the analyses of protein functional features and expression patterns, our results lay a foundation for the functional research of SlBES1 family.


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