Emerging Roles for Non-Coding RNAs in Male Reproductive Development in Flowering Plants

Biomolecules

Robert Grant-Downton¹ 

[1] Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, England

关键词: reproduction;    flowering plant;    pollen;    gametophyte;    fertility;    small RNA;    non-coding RNA;    cytoplasmic male sterility;   

DOI  :  10.3390/biom2040608

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Knowledge of sexual reproduction systems in flowering plants is essential to humankind, with crop fertility vitally important for food security. Here, we review rapidly emerging new evidence for the key importance of non-coding RNAs in male reproductive development in flowering plants. From the commitment of somatic cells to initiating reproductive development through to meiosis and the development of pollen—containing the male gametes (sperm cells)—in the anther, there is now overwhelming data for a diversity of non-coding RNAs and emerging evidence for crucial roles for them in regulating cellular events at these developmental stages. A particularly exciting development has been the association of one example of cytoplasmic male sterility, which has become an unparalleled breeding tool for producing new crop hybrids, with a non-coding RNA locus.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.