Gene silencing in plants: A diversity of pathways

• Gene silencing involves small RNAs, 20- to 30-nucleotides in length.
• Small RNAs modulate expression at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level.
• Small RNAs regulate development and response to both biotic and abiotic stresses.

Eukaryotic organisms have evolved a variety of gene silencing pathways in which small RNAs, 20- to 30-nucleotides in length, repress the expression of sequence homologous genes at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional levels. In plants, RNA silencing pathways play important roles in regulating development and response to both biotic and abiotic stresses. The molecular basis of these complex and interconnected pathways has emerged only in recent years with the identification of many of the genes necessary for the biogenesis and action of small RNAs. This review covers the diversity of RNA silencing pathways identified in plants.