《植物生理学报》 2014, 50(5): 599-604

miRNA在植物重金属胁迫应答中的作用

张林, 丁艳菲*, 王熠, 朱诚*

中国计量学院生命科学学院, 杭州310018

通信作者：丁艳菲；E-mail: dingyanfei@cjlu.edu.cn, pzhch@cjlu.edu.cn；Tel: 0571-87676371, 0571-86914510

摘　要：

microRNA (miRNA)是一种新型的长度为20-24 nt的非编码RNA, 通过对靶基因的表达调节进而参与调控植物体的多种生理代谢活动。重金属是一类重要的环境污染物, 严重危害植物的生长发育, 甚至导致植物死亡。植物在长期的进化过程中形成了抵御重金属胁迫的多种机制, 如miRNA对特定基因转录后水平的调控就在逆境胁迫应答中发挥重要作用。本文综述了植物中参与重金属胁迫应答miRNA的种类及作用机制, 为揭示重金属胁迫条件下基因表达调控机制, 以及利用基因工程手段改良植物对重金属的耐受性提供了线索和依据。

关键词：miRNA; 重金属胁迫; 调节机制; 植物

收稿：2014-03-25   修定：2014-04-22

资助：浙江省自然科学基金项目(LY13C020002)、浙江省大学生科技创新项目、国家自然科学基金项目(31170251)和浙江省重点科技创新团队项目(2010R50028)。

Role of miRNA in Plant Heavy Metal Stress Response

ZHANG Lin, DING Yan-Fei*, WANG Yi, ZHU Cheng*

College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China

Corresponding author: DING Yan-Fei; E-mail: dingyanfei@cjlu.edu.cn, pzhch@cjlu.edu.cn; Tel: 0571-87676371, 0571-86914510

Abstract:

microRNAs (miRNAs), a newly discovered class of 20-24 nt non-protein-coding small RNAs, have been reported to involve a broad range of metabolic and physiological processes in plants through the regulation of target gene expression. Heavy metals are an important class of environmental contaminants, seriously threatening the growth and development of plants and even causing plant death. In the long time of evolutionary process, plants have formed various mechanisms of heavy metal stress resistance, in which the miRNAguided post-transcriptional gene regulation plays an important role in environmental stress response. This article reviews recent progress in research on the miRNAs involved in heavy metal stress response and the regulatory mechanisms, which will help to reveal gene regulation mechanisms under heavy metal stress as well as provide evidence for the genetic improvement in plant heavy metal tolerance.

Key words: miRNA; heavy metal stress; regulatory mechanisms; plants