J Syst Evol

• Review • Previous Articles    

Fast and furious: The rapid turnover of microRNAs in plants

Zhonglong Guo1, Yixiang Yang1, and Xiaozeng Yang2*   

  1. 1Co‑Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
    2State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China

    *Author for correspondence. E‐mail: yangxz@ibcas.ac.cn.
  • Received:2024-09-23 Accepted:2024-11-29 Online:2025-01-17
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32300449 to Zhonglong Guo and 32070248 to Xiaozeng Yang), the National Innovative Talent Project (E212RE1 to Xiaozeng Yang) and the Innovative Talent Program supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (E412RG1 to Xiaozeng Yang).

Abstract: Plant miRNAs exhibit a dynamic and complex evolutionary landscape. Despite their rapid turnover, miRNAs play crucial roles in regulating key biological processes, underscoring their functional significance even when evolutionarily transient. This review explores the phenomenon of miRNA turnover through a comprehensive survey of miRNA conservation across land plants. We discuss how de novo miRNAs overcome challenges such as transcriptional activation, structural requirements for biogenesis, and functional integration into gene regulatory networks. Furthermore, we review the mechanisms of miRNA origination, including inverted duplication of target genes, derivation from retrotransposons or DNA transposons, spontaneous evolution, and a newly proposed mechanism through template switching mutations. Duplication of existing miRNAs plays a significant role in miRNA family expansion, driving the functional diversification and strengthening regulatory networks. While the phenomenon of miRNA loss has been preliminarily explored, its mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. To address this, we proposed three detailed steps to advance research into miRNA loss. This review provides an integrated perspective on the gain, expansion, and loss of plant miRNAs, offering insights into their evolutionary and biological significance.

Key words: expansion, gain, loss, microRNAs, plants.