Small RNAs (sRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), are non-coding but powerful RNA molecules of 20-30 nucleotides in length. sRNAs play crucial regulatory roles in diverse plant biological processes. Recently, many studies on sRNAs have been reported. We summarize new findings of sRNAs in virus-plant interactions to accelerate the function analysis of sRNAs. The main content of this review article includes three parts: virus-responsive sRNAs, function analysis of sRNAs in virus pathogenicity or host resistance, and some sRNAs-mediated underlying mechanisms in virus-plant interactions. New findings of sRNAs deepen our understanding about sRNAs' roles, which might contribute to the design of novel control measures against plant viruses.
Keywords: microRNAs; resistance; short interfering RNAs; small RNAs; symptom induction.