Work

Compensatory sequence variation between trans-species small RNAs and their target sites

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Trans -species small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are delivered to host plants from diverse pathogens and parasites and can target host mRNAs. How trans -species sRNAs can be effective on diverse hosts has been unclear. Multiple species of the parasitic plant Cuscuta produce trans -species sRNAs that collectively target many host mRNAs. Confirmed target sites are nearly always in highly conserved, protein-coding regions of host mRNAs. Cuscuta trans -species sRNAs can be grouped into superfamilies that have variation in a three-nucleotide period. These variants compensate for synonymous-site variation in host mRNAs. By targeting host mRNAs at highly conserved protein-coding sites, and simultaneously expressing multiple variants to cover synonymous-site variation, Cuscuta trans -species sRNAs may be able to successfully target homologous mRNAs from diverse hosts. One Sentence Summary The parasitic plant Cuscuta produces a diverse set of sRNAs that compensate for sequence variation in mRNA targets in diverse hosts.

Source: eLife

DOI: 10.7554/elife.49750

Authors: Nathan R. Johnson, Claude W. dePamphilis, Michael J. Axtell

Institution: Pennsylvania State University

Language: English

Topic: Plant Parasitism and Resistance

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,500