Functional Predictions of Long Noncoding RNAs by MiRNAs in Populus Euphratica Oliv.

Abstract

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are refer as noncoding transcript RNAs and longer than 200 nucleotides (nt) in length but shorter than 10,000 nt. LncRNAs are involved in a variety of biological processes, such as development, stress response. However, the functions of lncRNAs in plants are largely unclear. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate gene expression at transcriptional or post-transcriptional level in eukaryotes by sequence complementation. At present, the research on noncoding RNAs targeted by miRNAs is seldom explored in plants. Populus euphratica Oliv. (P. euphratica) is one of ideal model plants for studying development and stress resistance. To uncover the potential functions of lncRNAs in P. euphratica, the tender leaves of P. euphratica were analyzed using sequencing, and the data including lncRNAs and miRNAs were obtained, followed by bioinformatics methods to predict the potential binding sites of 258 mature miRNAs at 4460 lncRNAs in P. euphratica. It was found that 159 lncRNAs can act as the targets of 33 miRNAs. The corrections of miRNAs-mRNAs-lncRNAs were constructed and the functions of lncRNAs were predicted according to the roles of targets (mRNAs) of corresponding miRNAs. Our results indicated that lncRNAs of P. euphratica can regulate development, metabolism, and stress response and regulation process by decoying corresponding miRNAs.