Post-transcriptional gene silencing in plants： a double-edged sword  

作　　者：Xinyan Zhang Ying Zhu Huihui Wu Hongwei Guo 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China [2]peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China [3]Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette IN 47907, USA

出　　处：《Science China(Life Sciences)》2016年第3期271-276,共6页中国科学（生命科学英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2012CB910902);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(91217305;91017010)to H.G

摘　　要：In plants, post-transcriptional gene silencing(PTGS) protects the genome from foreign genes and restricts the expression of certain endogenous genes for proper development. Here, we review the recent progress about how the unwanted PTGS is avoided in plants. As a decision-making step of PTGS, aberrant transcripts from most endogenous coding genes are strictly sorted to the bidirectional RNA decay pathways in cytoplasm but not to the short interference RNA(si RNA)-mediated PTGS, with the exception of a few development-relevant endogenous si RNA-producing genes. We also discuss a finely balanced PTGS threshold model that plants fully take advantage of the power of PTGS without self-harm.In plants, post-transcriptional gene silencing （PTGS） protects the genome from foreign genes and restricts the expression of certain endogenous genes for proper development. Here, we review the recent progress about how the unwanted PTGS is avoided in plants. As a decision-making step of PTGS, aberrant transcripts from most endogenous coding genes are strictly sorted to the bidirectional RNA decay pathways in cytoplasm but not to the short interference RNA （siRNA）-mediated PTGS, with the exception of a few development-relevant endogenous siRNA-producing genes. We also discuss a finely balanced PTGS threshold model that plants fully take advantage of the power of PTGS without self-harm.

关 键 词：post-transcriptional gene silencing short interference RNA coding-transcript-derived siRNA RNA decay 

分 类 号：Q943.2[生物学—植物学]