DICER-LIKE3 activity in Physcomitrella patens DICER-LIKE4 mutants causes severe developmental dysfunction and sterility

M. Asif Arif, Isam Fattash, Zhaorong Ma, Sung Hyun Cho, Anna K. Beike, Ralf Reski, Michael J. Axtell, Wolfgang Frank

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

Trans-acting small interfering RNAs (ta-siRNAs) are plant-specific siRNAs released from TAS precursor transcripts after microRNA-dependent cleavage, conversion into double-stranded RNA, and Dicer-dependent phased processing. Like microRNAs (miRNAs), ta-siRNAs direct site-specific cleavage of target RNAs at sites of extensive complementarity. Here, we show that the DICER-LIKE 4 protein of Physcomitrella patens (PpDCL4) is essential for the biogenesis of 21 nucleotide (nt) ta-siRNAs. In ΔPpDCL4 mutants, off-sized 23 and 24-nt ta-siRNAs accumulated as the result of PpDCL3 activity. ΔPpDCL4 mutants display severe abnormalities throughout Physcomitrella development, including sterility, that were fully reversed in ΔPpDCL3/ΔPpDCL4 double-mutant plants. Therefore, PpDCL3 activity, not loss of PpDCL4 function per se, is the cause of the ΔPpDCL4 phenotypes. Additionally, we describe several new Physcomitrella trans-acting siRNA loci, three of which belong to a new family, TAS6. TAS6 loci are typified by sliced miR156 and miR529 target sites and are in close proximity to PpTAS3 loci.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1281-1294
Number of pages14
JournalMolecular plant
Volume5
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Molecular Biology
  • Plant Science

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