DEAD-box: Function on Growth and Development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Many RNA molecules require proteins and other nucleic acids to assist in RNA metabolism. RNA helicases are such proteins, and participate in nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism, including transcription, pre-mRNA splicing, ribosome biogenesis, transport between the nucleus and cytoplasm, protein translation, nonsense-mediated decay, and organelle-specific RNA metabolism, in an ATP-dependent manner. The DEAD-box protein family of RNA helicases belong to superfamily Ⅱ. They have nine conserved motifs, and are named for the conserved amino acid sequence Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp(D-E-A-D) in motif Ⅱ. DEAD-box families consist of abundant members in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Arabidopsis thaliana, and humans. Recently, the functions of some DEAD-box proteins were revealed in Arabidopsis. This review focuses on the functions of DEAD-box proteins on the growth and development of A. thaliana.