Mir-156 microRNA precursor

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miR156 precursor

miR156 is a family of plant non-coding RNA that produces microRNAs. It has been found in many plant species. miR156 helps regulate flowering by suppressing transcripts of SPL transcription factor genes. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, miR156 needs to be loaded into Argonaute proteins (AGO1 or AGO5) to function. The mature miR156 usually comes from the 5′ arm of its hairpin precursor. Related miR156 precursors in Arabidopsis and rice often generate nearly identical mature miR156 sequences. The exact length and extent of the hairpin precursors can vary and are often predicted computationally. miR156 acts by base-pairing with target mRNAs to control gene expression and has also been linked to the regulation of reproductive structures in liverworts.