Plant cells accumulate small RNA molecules that regulate plant development, genome
stability, and environmental responses. These small RNAs fall into three major classes …

RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) is the major small RNA-mediated epigenetic
pathway in plants. RdDM requires a specialized transcriptional machinery that comprises …

RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) is a biological process in which non-coding RNA
molecules direct the addition of DNA methylation to specific DNA sequences. The RdDM …

Plants have an extraordinary diversity of transcription machineries, including five nuclear
DNA-dependent RNA polymerases. Four of these enzymes are dedicated to the production …

A growing number of functions are emerging for RNA interference (RNAi) in the nucleus, in
addition to well-characterized roles in post-transcriptional gene silencing in the cytoplasm …

Regulation of gene expression by DNA methylation is crucial for defining cellular identities
and coordinating organism-wide developmental programs in many organisms. In plants …

Cytosine DNA methylation is a stable epigenetic mark that is crucial for diverse biological
processes, including gene and transposon silencing, imprinting and X chromosome …

Over the last decade,∼ 20–30 nucleotide RNA molecules have emerged as critical
regulators in the expression and function of eukaryotic genomes. Two primary categories of …

Heterosis, also known as hybrid vigour, is widespread in plants and animals, but the
molecular bases for this phenomenon remain elusive. Recent studies in hybrids and …

Vascular plants appeared~ 410 million years ago, then diverged into several lineages of
which only two survive: the euphyllophytes (ferns and seed plants) and the lycophytes. We …