UC Riverside scientists have significantly advanced the race to control plant responses to temperature on a rapidly warming planet. Key to this breakthrough is miRNA, a molecule nearly 200,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
With moderate increases in temperature, plants grow taller to avoid hotter ground and get fresher air. A landmark study published in the journal Nature Communications demonstrates that microRNA or miRNA is required for this growth. The study also identifies which miRNA molecules — out of more than 100 possibilities — are the essential ones.
“We found that without miRNA plants will not grow, even if we raise temperatures, even in the presence of added growth hormones,” said UCR botany professor and study co-author Meng Chen.
RNA is a nucleic acid present in all living cells, and its role is to act as a messenger carrying instructions from a cell’s DNA for creating a variety of proteins. MicroRNA is also necessary for healthy development in biological cells. It is created to bind to a specific RNA target and prevent that target from creating what it was designed to manufacture.
Read more at: University of California - Riverside
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