Biomolecules 2012, 2(4), 608-621; doi:10.3390/biom2040608
Review

Emerging Roles for Non-Coding RNAs in Male Reproductive Development in Flowering Plants

Robert Grant-Downton 1,* email and Josefina Rodriguez-Enriquez 2 email
1 Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK 2 Instituto de Bioorgánica Antonio González (IUBO) University of La Laguna, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, 38206 La Laguna Tenerife, Spain
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 26 October 2012; in revised form: 19 November 2012 / Accepted: 23 November 2012 / Published: 4 December 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Non-coding RNA)
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Abstract: Knowledge of sexual reproduction systems in flowering plants is essential to humankind, with crop fertility vitally important for food security. Here, we review rapidly emerging new evidence for the key importance of non-coding RNAs in male reproductive development in flowering plants. From the commitment of somatic cells to initiating reproductive development through to meiosis and the development of pollen—containing the male gametes (sperm cells)—in the anther, there is now overwhelming data for a diversity of non-coding RNAs and emerging evidence for crucial roles for them in regulating cellular events at these developmental stages. A particularly exciting development has been the association of one example of cytoplasmic male sterility, which has become an unparalleled breeding tool for producing new crop hybrids, with a non-coding RNA locus.
Keywords: reproduction; flowering plant; pollen; gametophyte; fertility; small RNA; non-coding RNA; cytoplasmic male sterility

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Grant-Downton, R.; Rodriguez-Enriquez, J. Emerging Roles for Non-Coding RNAs in Male Reproductive Development in Flowering Plants. Biomolecules 2012, 2, 608-621.

AMA Style

Grant-Downton R, Rodriguez-Enriquez J. Emerging Roles for Non-Coding RNAs in Male Reproductive Development in Flowering Plants. Biomolecules. 2012; 2(4):608-621.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Grant-Downton, Robert; Rodriguez-Enriquez, Josefina. 2012. "Emerging Roles for Non-Coding RNAs in Male Reproductive Development in Flowering Plants." Biomolecules 2, no. 4: 608-621.

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