Role of microRNAs in plant drought tolerance

Abstract

SummaryDrought is a normal and recurring climate feature in most parts of the world and plays a major role in limiting crop productivity. However, plants have their own defence systems to cope with adverse climatic conditions. One of these defence mechanisms is the reprogramming of gene expression by microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides length, which have emerged as important regulators of genes at post-transcriptional levels in a range of organisms. Some miRNAs are functionally conserved across plant species and are regulated by drought stress. These properties suggest that miRNA-based genetic modifications have the potential to enhance drought tolerance in cereal crops. This review summarizes the current understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of plant miRNAs, involvement of plant miRNAs in drought stress responses in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), wheat (Triticum spp.) and other plant species, and the involvement of miRNAs in plant-adaptive mechanisms under drought stress. Potential strategies and directions for future miRNA research and the utilization of miRNAs in the improvement of cereal crops for drought tolerance are also discussed.

Polysomes, Stress Granules, and Processing Bodies: A Dynamic Triumvirate Controlling Cytoplasmic mRNA Fate and Function

“…miRNA-Triggered Decay of Translating mRNAs miRNA-mediated gene silencing regulates key biological processes in plants, including the plasticity of development in the context of the environment (for review, see Ferdous et al, 2015;Fouracre and Poethig, 2016;D'Ario et al, 2017). The fully processed 21-or 22-nucleotide miRNA and its effector ARGONAUTE1 (AGO1) form a core RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that controls the fate of specific mRNAs through a mechanism that involves endonucleolytic cleavage and/or translational repression (Rogers and Chen, 2013).…”

The Accumulation of miRNAs Differentially Modulated by Drought Stress Is Affected by Grafting in Grapevine

“…As the accumulation of miRNAs can vary significantly among diverse organs or tissues (Ferdous et al, 2015), we investigated miRNA expression changes in roots and leaves of two genotypes. Our analysis of conserved miRNAs confirms their response to osmotic stress and variation among tissue types.…”

“…Plant miRNAs are single-stranded RNA molecules of approximately 21 nucleotides in length generated by DICER-LIKE1 (DCL1) enzymes from stem-loop precursors encoded by endogenous MIR genes (Nozawa et al, 2012). In recent years, increasing experimental evidence has suggested a role for plant miRNAs as crucial mediators in the regulation of molecular signaling cascades upon exposure to abiotic stresses, particularly drought and salinity (for review, see Ding et al, 2013;Ferdous et al, 2015;Zhang, 2015). Indeed, in many herbaceous plants, such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana; Liu et al, 2008;Song et al, 2013;Xu et al, 2014), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum; Frazier et al, 2011), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum; Candar-Cakir et al, 2016), Medicago truncatula (Trindade et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2011), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum; Wang et al, 2013), soybean (Glycine max; Kulcheski et al, 2011), and various cereals (for review, see Budak et al, 2015), as well as in woody species, such as poplar (Populus spp.…”

Identification and analysis of microRNAs in Botryococcus braunii using high-throughput sequencing

“…To date, numerous miRNAs have been identified from various plant species (Lu et al 2008, Pantaleo et al 2010, Jin et al 2013, Ferdous et al 2015, Pantaleo et al 2016, and a few reports have been published recently to describe the structure and function of miRNA from algae, such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Zhao et al 2007, Valli et al 2016, Thalassiosira pseudonana (Norden-Krichmar et al 2011), Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Huang et al 2011), Porphyra yezoensis (Liang et al 2010) and Porphyridium purpureum (Gao et al 2016). …”