About this Research Topic

Background

Plant secondary metabolites play critical roles in plant-environment interactions. They are synthesised in different organs or tissues at particular developmental stages in response to various environmental stimuli, such as attracting seed dispersers, repelling herbivores, transmitting cellular signals and responding to biotic and abiotic stresses. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs, including lncRNA, miRNA, and circRNA) are a range of RNAs lacking the ability to encode proteins that regulate gene expression in various ways. A subset of them is involved in gene regulation at different levels, from epigenetic gene silencing to post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA stability. Plant ncRNAs regulate the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in plants by controlling the expression levels and activities of various downstream genes. Although a large number of ncRNAs have been identified with the rapid development of omics sequencing technology, the role of ncRNAs in plants remains largely unexplored.

Although much progress has been made in understanding ncRNAs, various interesting areas remain to be uncovered. This Research Topic aims to collect studies that elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which ncRNAs cooperate with transcription factors and structural genes to mediate plant secondary metabolism. Together with functional analyses and omics studies, we hope to better understand how ncRNAs are involved in regulating the dynamic biosynthesis, storage, transport and biodegradation of secondary metabolites in different organs.

We welcome submissions of any types of manuscripts related to non-coding RNA research in plant secondary metabolism, including original research, methods, review, and perspectives, on the following subtopics but not limited to:
• Function and mechanism of ncRNAs in regulating the biosynthesis, storage, transport and biodegradation of secondary metabolites.
• Analysis of the sensitivity to secondary metabolism accumulation following genetic manipulations of ncRNA loci.
• Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms by which ncRNA modulates the expression of target genes.
• Investigate functional divergence of different members within an ncRNA family in secondary metabolism.
• Mechanistic elucidation of key cis-regulatory elements and/or trans-acting factors that control ncRNA expression.
• Identification and functional validation of ncRNAs involved in novel metabolic pathways of secondary metabolites.

Keywords: secondary metabolism, lncRNA, miRNA, circRNA, regulatory mechanism, plant

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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