Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Plant biology

Coding in non-coding RNAs

Nature volume 520, pages 41–42 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

The discovery of peptides encoded by what were thought to be non-coding – or 'junk' – regions of precursors to microRNA sequences reveals a new layer of gene regulation. These sequences may not be junk, after all. See Letter p.90

In plants and animals, microRNAs regulate the expression of many different genes1. Such regulation is crucial in a variety of processes, including transitions through developmental stages and responses to environmental stresses. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short in sequence and are generated by enzymatic excision from precursor transcripts called primary miRNAs (pri-miRs), which until now had been assumed not to encode any proteins. But on page 90 of this issue, Lauressergues et al.2 provide convincing evidence to the contrary. They find that some pri-miRs encode peptides that enhance production of their miRNAs. This is the first report of a functional peptide being encoded by a pri-miR and provides a fresh perspective on the significance of pri-miR regions beyond those that directly give rise to miRNAs.

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: MicroRNAs and their associated peptides.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Ameres, S. L. & Zamore, P. D. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 14, 475–488 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lauressergues, D. et al. Nature 520, 90–93 (2015).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Birney, E. et al. Nature 489, 57–74 (2012).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kellis, M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 6131–6138 (2014).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Carthew, R. W. & Sontheimer, E. J. Cell 136, 642–655 (2009).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Fang, Y. & Spector, D. L. Curr. Biol. 17, 818–823 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Zhang, L. et al. PLoS Genet. 5, e1000716 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Cuperus, J. T., Fahlgren, N. & Carrington, J. C. Plant Cell 23, 431–442 (2011).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Andrews, S. J. & Rothnagel, J. A. Nature Rev. Genet. 15, 193–204 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Laing, W. A. et al. Plant Cell http://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.114.133777 (2015).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peter M. Waterhouse and Roger P. Hellens are at the Queensland University of Technology Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia.,

    Peter M. Waterhouse & Roger P. Hellens

Authors
  1. Peter M. Waterhouse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roger P. Hellens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter M. Waterhouse.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Waterhouse, P., Hellens, R. Coding in non-coding RNAs. Nature 520, 41–42 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14378

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14378

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing