Cross-kingdom regulation of plant microRNAs: potential application in crop improvement and human disease therapeutics

Lei Shi; Chao Guo; Miaomiao Fang; Yingmei Yang; Fei Yin; Yuan Shen

doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1512047

Cross-kingdom regulation of plant microRNAs: potential application in crop improvement and human disease therapeutics

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Dec 17:15:1512047. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1512047. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Lei Shi^{1

2}, Chao Guo³, Miaomiao Fang², Yingmei Yang², Fei Yin⁴, Yuan Shen^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ International Joint Research Laboratory for Recombinant Pharmaceutical Protein Expression System of Henan, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
² School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
³ School of Pharmacy, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
⁴ National Demonstration Center for Experimental (Aquaculture) Education, School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.

Abstract

Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that usually negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Recent data reveal that plant miRNAs are not limited to individual plants but can transfer across different species, allowing for communication with the plant, animal, and microbial worlds in a cross-kingdom approach. This review discusses the differences in miRNA biosynthesis between plants and animals and summarizes the current research on the cross-species regulatory effects of plant miRNAs on nearby plants, pathogenic fungi, and insects, which can be applied to crop disease and pest resistance. In particular, this review highlights the latest findings regarding the function of plant miRNAs in the transboundary regulation of human gene expression, which may greatly expand the clinical applicability of plant miRNAs as intriguing tools in natural plant-based medicinal products in the future.

Keywords: cross-kingdom regulation; miRNA biosynthesis; miRNA transfer; plant miRNAs; plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Open Program of International Joint Research Laboratory for Recombinant Pharmaceutical Protein Expression System of Henan (KFKTYB202201), Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (242300420172), the Key Scientific Research Project Plans of Higher Education Institutions in Henan Province (24A350011, 24B310009), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31500982).