1. MicroRNAs: Tiny, powerful players of metal stress responses in plants.
- Author
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Srivastava, Sudhakar and Suprasanna, Penna
- Subjects
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MICRORNA , *ROOT growth , *HEAVY metals , *PLANT regulators , *METALS , *POLLUTION - Abstract
Metal contamination of the environment is a widespread problem threatening sustainable and safe crop production. Physio-biochemical and molecular mechanisms of plant responses to metal exposure have been studied to establish the best possible agronomical or biotechnological methods to tackle metal contamination. Metal stress tolerance is regulated by several molecular effectors among which microRNAs are one of the key master regulators of plant growth and stress responses in plants. MicroRNAs are known to coordinate multitude of plant responses to metal stress through antioxidant functions, root growth, hormonal signalling, transcription factors and metal transporters. The present review discusses integrative functions of microRNAs in the regulation of metal stress in plants, which will be useful for engineering stress tolerance traits for improved plant growth and productivity in metal stressed situations. • MicroRNAs are important regulatory elements in metal stress responses in plants. • MicroRNAs fine tune antioxidant defense machinery to counteract metal-induced oxidative stress. • The transporter expression is altered by microRNAs to reduce the accumulation of toxic metals. • Thiol metabolism is regulated by microRNAs for metal detoxification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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