Advances in the regulation of plant development and stress response by miR167

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, non-coding small RNA that cleavage mRNA targets in sequence-specific manner or the inhibition of translation, which regulates gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs are involved in the regulation of plant growth, metabolism and stress response. miR167 family is one of the highly conserved miRNA families in plants. It functions mainly by regulating the auxin response factors (ARFs) and IAA-Ala resistant3 (IAR3) genes, and participates in regulating the development of roots, stems, leaves and flowers, flowering time, embryonic development, seed development and stress response. Here, we reviewed the biological functions of miR167 family and its target genes in plant growth and development and stress response, and fur ther discussed the application prospect of miR167 in agricultural production. Furthermore, this review provides references for the further study of miR167 family in plants.