Background Guanine-rich sequences are able to form complex RNA structures termed RNA G-quadruplexes in vitro. Because of their high stability, RNA G-quadruplexes are proposed to exist in vivo and are suggested to be associated with important biological relevance. However, there is a lack of direct evidence for RNA G-quadruplex formation in living eukaryotic cells. Therefore, it is unclear whether any purported functions are associated with the specific sequence content or the formation of an RNA G-quadruplex structure. Results Using rG4-seq, we profile the landscape of those guanine-rich regions with the in vitro folding potential in the Arabidopsis transcriptome. We find a global enrichment of RNA G-quadruplexes with two G-quartets whereby the folding potential is strongly influenced by RNA secondary structures. Using in vitro and in vivo RNA chemical structure profiling, we determine that hundreds of RNA G-quadruplex structures are strongly folded in both Arabidopsis and rice, providing direct evidence of RNA G-quadruplex formation in living eukaryotic cells. Subsequent genetic and biochemical analyses show that RNA G-quadruplex folding is able to regulate translation and modulate plant growth. Conclusions Our study reveals the existence of RNA G-quadruplex in vivo and indicates that RNA G-quadruplex structures act as important regulators of plant development and growth.

中文翻译：

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RNA G-四链体结构在植物体内存在并发挥作用


背景富含鸟嘌呤的序列能够在体外形成称为RNA G-四联体的复杂RNA结构。由于其高稳定性，RNA G 四链体被认为存在于体内，并被认为与重要的生物学相关性相关。然而，缺乏活体真核细胞中 RNA G 四链体形成的直接证据。因此，尚不清楚任何声称的功能是否与特定序列内容或 RNA G 四链体结构的形成有关。结果使用 rG4-seq，我们分析了拟南芥转录组中那些富含鸟嘌呤的区域以及体外折叠潜力的情况。我们发现具有两个 G 四联体的 RNA G 四联体的整体富集，其中折叠潜力受到 RNA 二级结构的强烈影响。通过体外和体内 RNA 化学结构分析，我们确定了拟南芥和水稻中数百个 RNA G 四链体结构强烈折叠，为活体真核细胞中 RNA G 四链体形成提供了直接证据。随后的遗传和生化分析表明，RNA G 四链体折叠能够调节翻译并调节植物生长。结论我们的研究揭示了体内RNA G-四链体的存在，并表明RNA G-四链体结构是植物发育和生长的重要调节因子。