Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly defined as transcripts that lack protein-coding capacity and are longer than 200 nucleotides. Since the emergence of next-generation sequencing technologies in this century, thousands of lncRNAs have been identified from nearly all living organisms. Notably, various pathogens also express their own lncRNAs in host cells during infection. In plants, many lncRNAs exhibit dynamic expression patterns in response to environmental stimuli, including pathogen attacks. In contrast to well-established methods in identifying such lncRNAs, the current understanding of lncRNAs’ functional mechanisms is in its infancy. Some lncRNAs serve as precursors for generating small RNAs or serve as target mimics to sequester functional small RNAs, which have been extensively reviewed in the literature. This review focuses on the emerging evidence supporting that certain lncRNAs function as negative or positive regulators of plant immunity. A common theme is that those regulations rely on specific interactions between lncRNAs and key regulatory proteins. Viroids as single-stranded circular noncoding RNAs provide a handle to investigate how RNA local motifs render interaction specificity between lncRNAs and regulatory proteins. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license . 
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                            Mitochondrial sequencing identifies long noncoding RNA features that promote binding to PNPase
                        
                    
    
            Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are relatively novel RNAs with increasingly prominent roles in regulating genetic expression, mainly in the nucleus but more recently in regions such as the mitochondrion. This study explores how lncRNAs interact with polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase), a protein that regulates RNA import into the mitochondrion. Machine learning identified several RNA structural features that improved lncRNA binding to PNPase, which may be useful in targeting RNA therapeutics to the mitochondrion. 
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                            - Award ID(s):
- 2125872
- PAR ID:
- 10634938
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Physiological Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology
- Volume:
- 327
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0363-6143
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- C221 to C236
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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