Artificial MicroRNAs Promote High-Level Production of Biomolecules Through Metabolic Engineering of Phenylpropanoid Pathway

ABSTRACT

Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) are tiny RNAs that are crucial for the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as phenylpropanoids because they regulate the activity of key transcription factors and enzymes. Here, we have discussed the significance of miRNAs that target the mRNAs encoding for enzymes and transcription factors in the phenylpropanoid pathway. Genes encoding the miRNAs involved in the synthesis of phenylpropanoids could be considered as potential candidates for metabolic engineering. We have analyzed the construction and potential value of artificial miRNAs (amiRNAs) that could be used for scrutinizing the functional importance of miRNAs in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and manipulating the pathway for enhancing the production of secondary metabolites.

KEYWORDS:

• Flavonoid
• lignin
• noncoding
• secondary metabolite
• silencing
• transcription factor

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment

Sweda Sreekumar gratefully acknowledges the Senior Research Fellowship from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) New Delhi, Government of India.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, New Delhi.