MicroRNAs: potential target for genome editing in plants for traits improvement
- Resource Type
- Original Paper
- Authors
- Mangrauthia, Satendra K.; Maliha, A; Prathi, Naresh Babu; Marathi, Balram
- Source
- Indian Journal of Plant Physiology: An International Journal of Plant Physiology. :1-19
- Subject
- miRNA
CRISPR/Cas
Gene regulation
Yield
Stress
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0019-5502
0974-0252
The success of plant breeding for crop improvement is primarily dependent on effective utilization of coding and non-coding genetic elements. MicroRNAs are short non-coding RNAs transcribed from specific class of genes. These tiny RNAs regulate key biological processes in plants by targeting messenger RNAs for cleavage or translational inhibition. We herein describe the diverse functions of some of the well-studied miRNAs in different plant species and the possibility of using these miRNAs for crop improvement through genome editing. Some of the successful applications of genome editing of miRNAs are also described. This review presents key information on strategies and considerations to utilize miRNAs for genome editing with an example of rice. The major challenges of genome editing of miRNAs and the necessity of further studies to develop comprehensive knowledge of miRNA mediated gene regulatory networks and trait improvement, have been described in detail.