Skip to main content
. 2019 Jul 8;182(1):38–50. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00570

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

DCL processing of exogenously applied dsRNA in plants. DCL4 generates 21-nt siRNAs that are loaded onto AGO1 and target complementary transcripts for cleavage. DCL2 generates 22-nt siRNAs that are also loaded onto AGO1 and recruit RDR6 to the target transcripts’ 3′ ends for the generation of secondary siRNAs. Finally, DCL3 generates 24-nt siRNAs that are loaded onto AGO4 and trigger de novo DNA methylation by hybridizing with nascent Pol V or Pol II transcripts. Whether DCL1, which is mainly involved in the miRNA pathway, also processes exogenously applied dsRNA, is not clear.