Barley Seeds miRNome Stability during Long-Term Storage and Aging

Abstract

Seed aging is a complex biological process that has been attracting scientists’ attention for many years. High-throughput small RNA sequencing was applied to examine microRNAs contribution in barley seeds senescence. Unique samples of seeds that, despite having the same genetic makeup, differed in viability after over 45 years of storage in a dry state were investigated. In total, 61 known and 81 novel miRNA were identified in dry seeds. The highest level of expression was found in four conserved miRNA families, i.e., miR159, miR156, miR166, and miR168. However, the most astonishing result was the lack of significant differences in the level of almost all miRNAs in seed samples with significantly different viability. This result reveals that miRNAs in dry seeds are extremely stable. This is also the first identified RNA fraction that is not deteriorating along with the loss of seed viability. Moreover, the novel miRNA hvu-new41, with higher expression in seeds with the lowest viability as detected by RT-qPCR, has the potential to become an indicator of the decreasing viability of seeds during storage in a dry state.

Profiling of Barley, Wheat, and Rye FPG and OGG1 Genes during Grain Germination

“…Barley is one of the cultivar species with long seed viability, however this depends on the humidity of the samples. Grains stored for 45 years in gene bank conditions present different levels of germination at about 86.7% and 2% [42]. Analysis of total RNA showed that both samples had degraded rRNA particles in comparison to the control, however miRNA and mRNA fractions were stable in all samples [43].…”

Genome-Wide Analysis of Long Non-coding RNAs Involved in Nodule Senescence in Medicago truncatula

“…SPL genes can increase the expression of miR172, and miR156/SPLs/miR172 constitute the regulatory network of aging pathway ( Wei et al, 2017 ; Werner et al, 2021 ). Additionally, miR168 was involved in seed senescence in barley ( Puchta et al, 2021 ). In legumes, miR156 and miR172 were essential regulators of nodulation in soybean ( Yan et al, 2013 ; Yun et al, 2022 ), common bean ( Nova-Franco et al, 2015 ) and alfalfa ( Aung et al, 2017 ).…”

Choosing the Right Path for the Successful Storage of Seeds

“…Consequently, there is a huge need for new biochemical or molecular markers of seed viability that improve the process of monitoring plant material during storage in gene banks and to help with the understanding of the concomitant aging process occurring in seeds. These studies have developed rapidly over the last decade and substantiate the importance of volatile organic compounds [ 94 , 95 , 98 ], proteomic studies [ 191 ], RNA integrity [ 192 , 193 , 194 , 195 , 196 ] and DNA damage markers or epigenetic marks [ 96 , 97 , 99 , 190 , 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 ] that are highly promising and should be more widely explored.…”