Advances of plant miRNA-encoded small peptides (miPEP)

miRNAs (microRNAs) are a class of small molecular RNAs ranging from 19 to 24 nt in length, which are involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression during plants growth and development.MiPEP (miRNA-encoded peptide) is a short peptide translated from primary miRNA (pri-miRNA) precursor.miPEPs usually promote the expression of corresponding pri-miRNA, and enhance the regulation of miRNA on target genes.This review focuses on the recent research of plant miPEPs generation, biological function and the mechanism of miPEPs regulation.At the same time, some concerns in the research of miPEPs are discussed.