ABSTRACT
MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, are looked upon as master-regulators of gene expression. They regulate gene expression in a sequence-specific manner mainly through cleavage and/or translation inhibition of the target mRNAs during or after transcription. By doing so, miRNAs are involved in a myriad of biological processes, including plant development, metabolism, maintenance of genome integrity and adaptive responses to environmental stresses. Due to their ubiquitous implications in all these processes, the research on miRNAs is in a continuous development, and with the advent of high-throughput technologies, the number of identified miRNAs is constantly expanding. Here, we review the current literature on the miRNAs implications in adaptive processes like the roles in abiotic stress regulation, secondary metabolites production and seed pre-germinative metabolism.
