Phased small-interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs) are a special class of small RNAs, which are generated in 21- or 24-nt intervals from transcripts of precursor RNAs. Although phasiRNAs have been found in a range of organisms, their biological functions in plants have yet to be uncovered. Here we show that phasiRNAs generated by the photopheriod-sensetive genic male sterility 1 (Pms1) locus were associated with photoperiod-sensitive male sterility (PSMS) in rice, a germplasm that started the two-line hybrid rice breeding. The Pms1 locus encodes a long-noncoding RNA PMS1T that was preferentially expressed in young panicles. PMS1T was targeted by miR2118 to produce 21-nt phasiRNAs that preferentially accumulated in the PSMS line under long-day conditions. A single nucleotide polymorphism in PMS1T nearby the miR2118 recognition site was critical for fertility change, likely leading to differential accumulation of the phasiRNAs. This result suggested possible roles of phasiRNAs in reproductive development of rice, demonstrating the potential importance of this RNA class as regulators in biological processes.
階段性的小干擾RNA（phasiRNAs）是一類特殊的的小RNA，是由前體RNAs的轉(zhuǎn)錄本以21或24-nt間隔產(chǎn)生的。盡管已經(jīng)在大量生物中發(fā)現(xiàn)phasiRNAs，但是它們在植物中的生物功能仍沒有報道。本文，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)phasiRNAs由Pms1位點產(chǎn)生，Pms1與水稻的光周期敏感的雄性不育（PSMS）相關(guān)，這是開始兩系雜交水稻育種的一種種質(zhì)資源。Pms1位點編碼一個長鏈非編碼RNA PMS1T，它在幼穗中偏好性表達。PMS1T受到miR2118作用，產(chǎn)生21-nt phasiRNAs，在長日照條件下的PSMS株系中偏好性積累。PMS1T中miR2118識別位點附近的一個單堿基多態(tài)性對育性變化十分關(guān)鍵，可能導(dǎo)致phasiRNAs積累差異。這些結(jié)果表明，phasiRNAs在水稻生殖發(fā)育中可能的作用，表明這類RNA作為調(diào)控因子在生物過程中的潛在重要性。