Abstract
HEN1-dependent methylation of the 3′-terminal nucleotide is a crucial step in plant microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. Here we report that several viral RNA silencing suppressors (P1/HC-Pro, p21 and p19) inhibit miRNA methylation. These suppressors have distinct effects on different miRNAs. We also show that miRNA* is methylated in vivo in a suppressor-sensitive manner, suggesting that the viral proteins interfere with miRNA/miRNA* duplexes. p19 and p21 bind both methylated and unmethylated miRNA/miRNA* duplexes in vivo. These findings suggest miRNA/miRNA* as the in vivo substrates for the HEN1 miRNA methyltransferase and raise intriguing possibilities regarding the cellular location of miRNA methylation.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 3117-3120 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | FEBS Letters |
Volume | 580 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 29 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- HEN1
- Methylation
- Viral RNA silencing suppressor
- microRNA/microRNA
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Structural Biology
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
- Cell Biology