Participation of non-coding RNAs in plant organellar biogenesis

Abstract

The biogenesis of plant mitochondria and plastids is a multistep process that depends on the expression of both organellar and nuclear genes. A growing body of evidence suggest that the indispensable coordination between different steps of this process may be gained by the participation of non-coding RNAs. A plethora of non-coding RNAs of diverse length, both intraorganellar ones as well as encoded by the nuclear genome (including microRNAs and short interfering RNAs) were also suggested to play a role in stress response by regulating the expression levels of targeted genes important for the organellar biogenesis. Selected aspects of current interest, regarding the regulation of plant mitochondrial and plastid gene expression by diverse non-coding RNAs also under abiotic stress conditions, were highlighted.