Diverse set of microRNAs are responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

BackgroundMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding regulatory RNAs that regulate gene expression by guiding target mRNA cleavage or translational inhibition. MiRNAs can have large-scale regulatory effects on development and stress response in plants.ResultsTo test whether miRNAs play roles in regulating response to powdery mildew infection and heat stress in wheat, by using Solexa high-throughput sequencing we cloned the small RNA from wheat leaves infected by preponderant physiological strain Erysiphe graminis f. sp. tritici (Egt) or by heat stress treatment. A total of 153 miRNAs were identified, which belong to 51 known and 81 novel miRNA families. We found that 24 and 12 miRNAs were responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress, respectively. We further predicted that 149 target genes were potentially regulated by the novel wheat miRNA.ConclusionsOur results indicated that diverse set of wheat miRNAs were responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress and could function in wheat responses to both biotic and abiotic stresses.

Multiple Rice MicroRNAs Are Involved in Immunity against the Blast Fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

“…Previously, a set of miRNAs were identified to be involved in plant immunity against bacterial and viral pathogens (Navarro et al, 2006;Du et al, 2011;Radwan et al, 2011;Seo et al, 2013). Recently, host miRNAs were also found to be responsive to the infection of an increasing list of filamentous pathogens, such as Cronartium quercuum (Lu et al, 2007), Erysiphe graminis (Xin et al, 2010), Fusarium virguliforme (Radwan et al, 2011), Phytophthora sojae (Guo et al, 2011), and Verticillium dahliae (Yin et al, 2012;Yang et al, 2013). In this study, small RNA accumulation in rice seedlings of susceptible and resistant lines upon M. oryzae infection was systemically assayed by deep sequencing.…”

Identification of UV-B-induced microRNAs in wheat

“…Novel miRNAs have been uncovered by deep sequencing of small RNA transcriptomes in bread wheat (Wei et al, 2009). In addition, some wheat miRNAs have been identified and proven to responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress (Xin et al, 2010). However, UV-B-responsive miRNAs have not been identified by either computational or experimental approaches in wheat, and the responses of miRNAs to the UV-B stress pathway are poorly understood.…”

Small Non-Coding RNAs in Plant Immunity

“…In wheat interaction with Erysiphe graminis f. sp. tritici, the expression pattern of miR393 was less expressed in the susceptible cultivar Jingdong8 as compared to the near-isogenic resistant line Jingdong8-Pm30 [87]. These results illustrate the fact that in some cases, conserved miRNAs may play similar functions in different pathosystems.…”