RNA沉默及其在植物基因功能研究和作物改良中的应用

RNA沉默是指导入或细胞内转录合成的双链RNA会特异性地降解具有同源序列的mRNA,从而导致内源的、外源的和病毒基因的沉默,它是真核生物特有的一种阻止转座子转座和抵御外源DNA入侵的防御机制。利用RNA沉默技术,人们正对大量基因进行功能研究,并在作物性状改良方面取得了一些可喜成果。

RNA Silencing and Its Application in Plant Gene Function Research and Crop Improvement

Double-stranded RNA introduced from outside or transcribed from inside can degrade selectively mRNA with homologous sequence and thus silence corresponding endogenous, exogenous or virus genes. This phenomenon is called RNA silencing, which is an exclusive mechanism of eukaryotic organisms to impede transposons from movement and defend against the invasion of exogenous DNAs. Several models have been proposed to explain the mechanism of RNA silencing on a large number of experimental evidence. People are now using the technology of RNA silencing to study the functions of lots of genes, and have got some good results in crop character improvement.