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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Detlef Weigel's group previously showed that endogenous plant miRNAs are much more specific than miRNAs or synthetic siRNAs in animals.
To confirm that this is due to genuine differences between the RNAi machineries in plants and animals, rather than selection against miRNAs that have broader specificities in plants, they
designed a range of miRNAs to target various endogenous genes in _Arabidopsis thaliana_. In cases for which the effects of mutating the endogenous target genes were already known, the
phenotypes that resulted from the overexpression of the corresponding designer miRNAs were remarkably similar to the outcomes of mutation. Weigel and colleagues also used microarrays to show
that, like endogenous miRNAs, designer miRNAs (known alternatively as artificial or synthetic miRNAs) are highly specific — they knock down their predicted targets, but little else. This
confirms the intrinsic specificity of miRNA-mediated silencing in plants and highlights designer miRNAs as potentially useful tools. In independent work, Yuval Eshed and colleagues found
that designer miRNAs work not only in _A. thaliana_, but also in other species including tomato and tobacco — a finding that is perhaps unsurprising given the considerable conservation of
some miRNAs. This highlights the potential for this new tool to be applied to plant species that are not normally amenable to genetic manipulation. This is a preview of subscription content,
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OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS * Alvarez, J. P. et al. Endogenous and synthetic miRNAs
stimulate simultaneous, efficient and localized regulation of multiple targets in diverse species. _Plant Cell_ 7 April 2006 (doi: 10.1105/tpc.105.040725) * Schwab, R. et al. Artificial
microRNAs silence target genes with high specificity. _Plant Cell_ 10 March 2006 (doi: 10.1105/tpc.105.039834) Download references Authors * Jenny Bangham View author publications You can
also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RELATED LINKS RELATED LINKS WEB SITE WMD — Web microRNA Designer homepage RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS
ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Bangham, J. Designer plant miRNAs meet their targets. _Nat Rev Genet_ 7, 335 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1865 Download citation * Issue Date: 01 May 2006 *
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1865 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not
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