When junk DNA turns functional: transposon-derived non-coding RNAs in plants

ARIEL, FEDERICO D; MANAVELLA, PABLO A

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Año: 2021 vol. 72 p. 4132 - 4143

0022-0957

Transposable elements (TEs) are major contributors to genome complexity in eukaryotes. TE mobilization may causegenome instability, although it can also drive genome diversity throughout evolution. TE transposition may influencethe transcriptional activity of neighboring genes by modulating the epigenomic profile of the region or by alteringthe relative position of regulatory elements. Notably, TEs have emerged in the last few years as an important sourceof functional long and small non-coding RNAs. A plethora of small RNAs derived from TEs have been linked to thetrans regulation of gene activity at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Furthermore, TE-derived longnon-coding RNAs have been shown to modulate gene expression by interacting with protein partners, sequesteringactive small RNAs, and forming duplexes with DNA or other RNA molecules. In this review, we summarize our currentknowledge of the functional and mechanistic paradigms of TE-derived long and small non-coding RNAs and discusstheir role in plant development and evolution.