Abstract

It was recently found that the primary transcripts of some microRNA genes (pri-miRNAs) are able to express peptides with 12 to 40 residues in length. These peptides, called miPEPs, participate in the transcriptional regulation of their own pri-miRNAs. In our previous studies, we used bioinformatic approach for comparative analysis of pri-miRNA sequences in plant genomes to identify a new group of miPEPs (miPEP-156a peptides) encoded by pri-miR156a in several dozen species of the Brassicaceae family. Exogenous miPEP-156a peptides could efficiently penetrate into the plant seedlings through the root system and spread systemically to the leaves. The peptides produced moderate morphological effect accelerating primary root growth. In parallel, the miPEP-156a peptides upregulated expression of their own pri-miR156a. Importantly, the observed effects at both morphological and molecular levels correlated with the peptide ability to quickly translocate into the cell nucleus and to bind chromatin. In this work, we established secondary structure of the miPEP-156a and demonstrated its changes induced by formation of the peptide complex with DNA.

中文翻译：

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miR156A前体编码并在十字花科植物中保守的化学合成肽的活性

摘要

最近发现，一些微小RNA基因（pri-miRNA）的初级转录本能够表达长度为12至40个残基的肽。这些称为miPEP的肽参与其自身pri-miRNA的转录调控。在我们以前的研究中，我们使用生物信息学方法对植物基因组中的pri-miRNA序列进行了比较分析，以识别由十字花科科植物数十种中的pri-miR156a编码的一组新的miPEP（miPEP-156a肽）。外源miPEP-156a肽可以通过根系有效地渗透到植物幼苗中，并系统地扩散到叶片上。该肽产生适度的形态学效应，加速了初生根的生长。同时，miPEP-156a肽上调了其自身pri-miR156a的表达。重要的，观察到的在形态学和分子水平上的作用都与肽迅速转移到细胞核并结合染色质的能力有关。在这项工作中，我们建立了miPEP-156a的二级结构，并证明了由与DNA形成的肽复合物诱导的变化。