Gene-ius at Work In Plant Study

Researchers in Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Research program are finding more ways to make plants more resilient to drought, disease, and salinity. 

And they’re going microscopic—through microRNAs—to identify gene expressions in plants. 

Tiny targeting: MicroRNAs are small molecules that guide proteins to restrict certain traits in a plant’s genome. That allows scientists to engineer artificial versions and target specific genes. Specifically, they’re targeting genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, or thale cress, a mustard plant from Eurasia and Africa.

A recent study revised researchers’ understanding of microRNAs, an endeavor about 10 years in the making. This time around, they were able to verify 147 of the 326 posited microRNA precursors through isolating traits. 

Soundbite: “We made point mutations at two locations separately in the dicer-like protein to make them semi-active. That way, they can only cut one strand and stop before further processing. This gives us a chance to capture the intermediate products of the microRNA precursor, telling us the initial processing sites and that first nucleotide.” — Texas A&M AgriLife graduate research assistant, Xingxing Yan

Where this goes: Researchers are not done piecing the puzzle together. The Texas A&M team has more microRNA precursors to verify in thale cress plants. Still, the ideas could lead to investigations of microRNA in more commercial crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and rice.

Expanding research could enhance resiliency and productivity of food crops.