MicroRNAs in tomato plants

• Published in: Science China. Life sciences Vol. 54; no. 7; pp. 599 - 605
• Main Authors: Zuo, JinHua, Wang, YunXiang, Liu, HaiPing, Ma, YuanZheng, Ju, Zheng, Zhai, BaiQiang, Fu, DaQi, Zhu, Yi, Luo, YunBo, Zhu, BenZhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Science China Press 01-07-2011; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Computational Biology; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Life Sciences; Lycopersicon esculentum; Lycopersicon esculentum - genetics; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; Reviews; RNA, Plant - genetics; RNA, Plant - metabolism; Transgenes; microRNAs; research methods; tomato; target gene prediction; functional analysis
• ISSN: 1674-7305; 1869-1889
• DOI: 10.1007/s11427-011-4188-4

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a specialized class of small silencing RNAs that regulate gene expression in eukaryotes. In plants, miRNAs negatively regulate target mRNAs containing a highly complementary sequence by either mRNA cleavage or translational repression. As a model plant to study fleshy fruit ripening, miRNA studies in tomato have made great progress recently. MiRNAs were predicted to be involved in nearly all biological processes in tomato, particularly development, differentiation, and biotic and abiotic stress responses. Surprisingly, several miRNAs were verified to be involved in tomato fruit ripening and senescence. Recent studies suggest that miRNAs are related to host-virus interactions, which raises the possibility that miRNAs can be used as diagnostic markers for response to virus infection in tomato plants. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge systematically and advance future directions for miRNA research in tomato.