Unravelling the due importance of pseudogenes and their resurrection in plants

The complexities of a genome are underpinned to the vast expanses of the intergenic region, which constitutes ∼97–98% of the genome. This region is essentially composed of what is colloquially referred to as the “junk DNA” and is composed of various elements like transposons, repeats, pseudogenes, etc. The latter have long been considered as dead elements merely contributing to transcriptional noise in the genome. Many studies now describe the previously unknown regulatory functions of these genes. Recent advances in the Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have allowed unprecedented access to these regions. With the availability of whole genome sequences of more than 788 different plant species in past 20 years, genome annotation has become feasible like never before. Different bioinformatic pipelines are available for the identification of pseudogenes. However, still little is known about their biological functions. The functional validation of these genes remains challenging and research in this area is still in infancy, particularly in plants. CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing could provide solutions to understand the biological roles of these genes by allowing creation of precise edits within these genes. The possibility of pseudogene reactivation or resurrection as has been demonstrated in a few studies might open new avenues of genetic manipulation to yield a desirable phenotype. This review aims at comprehensively summarizing the progress made with regards to the identification of pseudogenes and understanding their biological functions in plants. •The functional capacities of pseudogenes significantly outweigh the so-called “non-functionality” or redundancy. These genes give rise to various ncRNAs which allow diversification of their biological functions.•The advances in sequencing technologies and genome editing allow us to derive novel insights into the structure and function of these genes.•Successful examples of pseudogene resurrection which restores the function of pseudogenes, draws our attention to the huge scope of genetic improvement which these genes offer.•Research on these aspects could help us understand the biological roles of these mysterious genes.