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Cited by 274Plant Molecular Biology ResearchChromosomal and Genetic VariationsRNA modifications and cancer

tRNA-derived small RNAs target transposable element transcripts

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Martinez, German, Choudury, Sarah G., Slotkin, R. Keith·2017·Nucleic Acids Research
DOI 10.1093/nar/gkx103PMC PMC5605234

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Abstract

tRNA-derived RNA fragments (tRFs) are 18-26 nucleotide small RNAs that are not random degradation products, but are rather specifically cleaved from mature tRNA transcripts. Abundant in stressed or viral-infected cells, the function and potential targets of tRFs are not known. We identified that in the unstressed wild-type male gamete containing pollen of flowering plants, and analogous reproductive structure in non-flowering plant species, tRFs accumulate to high levels. In the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana, tRFs are processed by Dicer-like 1 and incorporated into Argonaute1 (AGO1), akin to a microRNA. We utilized the fact that many plant small RNAs direct cleavage of their target transcripts to demonstrate that the tRF-AGO1 complex acts to specifically target and cleave endogenous transposable element (TE) mRNAs produced from transcriptionally active TEs. The data presented here demonstrate that tRFs are bona-fide regulatory microRNA-like small RNAs involved in the regulation of genome stability through the targeting of TE transcripts.

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  • Many tRF-5 molecules have been shown to play modulatory roles in the replication of retroelements.

    “Many tRF-5 molecules have recently been shown to play modulatory roles in the replication of retroelements.”

    From Role of host tRNAs and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in retroviral replication (2019) · cites this paper as [93]

    The Results section (‘tRFs target transposable elements’; page unavailable) reports that tRF-5s target and can direct cleavage of transposable-element mRNAs, many from the Gypsy family. The Discussion also identifies a tRF-5 targeting the LTR retrotransposon Athila6A. These passages support a role in regulating retroelement transcripts, but do not show an effect on retroelement replication itself. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • tRF-5s that accumulated in Arabidopsis thaliana direct the cleavage of mRNAs associated with gypsy family transposable elements.

    “In addition, tRF-5s that accumulated in Arabidopsis thaliana were shown to direct the cleavage of mRNAs associated with gypsy family transposable elements (93).”

    From Role of host tRNAs and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in retroviral replication (2019) · cites this paper as [93]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Martinez, G., Choudury, S. G., & Slotkin, R. K.
Affiliations
The Ohio State University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Nucleic Acids Research
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2017-02-21
Volume
45
Issue
9
Pages
5142-5152
ISSN
  • 0305-1048 (ISSN-L)
  • 1362-4962
DOI
10.1093/nar/gkx103
PMC
PMC5605234
OpenAlex
W2950847039
Cited by
274
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 11
FWCI
31.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nucleic Acids Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1252370)
  • European Commission (330069)
  • Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM086252)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R21AI127582)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Molecular Biology Research
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA modifications and cancer
Keywords
tRNA-derived small RNAs, tRNA-derived fragments, transposable elements, AGO1, DCL1, RNA interference, genome stability, pollen, Arabidopsis thaliana, small RNA biogenesis
MeSH terms
Base Sequence, DNA Transposable Elements, Mutation, Pollen, RNA, Messenger, RNA, Transfer, Reproducibility of Results, Arabidopsis, RNA, Plant, Arabidopsis Proteins, MicroRNAs

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