DCL3 — Arabidopsis thaliana

Summary

AT3G43920, designated DCL3 (DICER-LIKE 3) on Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 3, encodes a protein with RNase III, PAZ, helicase, and dsRNA-binding domains that exhibits ribonuclease III activity and dsRNA binding. DCL3 is associated with small RNA biogenesis and with the regulation of post-transcriptional gene silencing and lncRNA transcription. The gene has been linked to diverse traits including leaf and floral organ morphology, seed viability and size, stem length, vegetative vigor, viral disease response, insect damage response, herbicide sensitivity, and osmotic stress sensitivity. DCL3 localises to the nucleus, nucleolus, and nuclear speck, and is connected to the CCR4-NOT core complex and Cul4-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to virus resistance, fungal disease resistance, and posttranscriptional gene silencing.