TY - JOUR
T1 - The contrasting microRNA content of a drought tolerant and a drought susceptible wheat cultivar
AU - Bakhshi, Behnam
AU - Fard, Ehsan Mohseni
AU - Gharechahi, Javad
AU - Safarzadeh, Mahdieh
AU - Nikpay, Nava
AU - Fotovat, Reza
AU - Azimi, Mohammad Reza
AU - Salekdeh, Ghasem Hosseini
PY - 2017/9
Y1 - 2017/9
N2 - Drought stress represents one of the most common stresses affecting the productivity of crop plants. A rather recently discovered component of the plant response to drought is the cellular population of microRNAs. Here, the microRNA content was revealed of two bread wheat cultivars contrasting strongly with respect to the ability to withstand drought stress. A total of 1813 miRNAs was identified, grouped into 106 families. Some 104 of these miRNAs were predicted to match 212 novel miRNA precursors. In the drought tolerant cultivar (SM), 105 (33 known and 72 novel) miRNAs were altered in abundance by the imposition of drought stress, while the equivalent number in the more sensitive cultivar (SW) was 51 (20 and 31). An in silico analysis predicted that these miRNAs target at least 1959 genes in SM and 1111 in SW, suggesting their broad contribution to the drought stress response. Among the target genes were several known stress-related genes, encoding, for example, superoxide dismutase, various MYB transcription factors, various ABA signaling proteins and various MADS-box transcription factors. In many cases, the more susceptible cultivar SW behaved in a contrasting manner. The suggestion is that miRNAs represent an important aspect of the drought stress response, post-transcriptionally regulating a range of stress-related genes.
AB - Drought stress represents one of the most common stresses affecting the productivity of crop plants. A rather recently discovered component of the plant response to drought is the cellular population of microRNAs. Here, the microRNA content was revealed of two bread wheat cultivars contrasting strongly with respect to the ability to withstand drought stress. A total of 1813 miRNAs was identified, grouped into 106 families. Some 104 of these miRNAs were predicted to match 212 novel miRNA precursors. In the drought tolerant cultivar (SM), 105 (33 known and 72 novel) miRNAs were altered in abundance by the imposition of drought stress, while the equivalent number in the more sensitive cultivar (SW) was 51 (20 and 31). An in silico analysis predicted that these miRNAs target at least 1959 genes in SM and 1111 in SW, suggesting their broad contribution to the drought stress response. Among the target genes were several known stress-related genes, encoding, for example, superoxide dismutase, various MYB transcription factors, various ABA signaling proteins and various MADS-box transcription factors. In many cases, the more susceptible cultivar SW behaved in a contrasting manner. The suggestion is that miRNAs represent an important aspect of the drought stress response, post-transcriptionally regulating a range of stress-related genes.
KW - miRNA
KW - Target genes
KW - Next-generation sequencing
KW - Drought stress
KW - Post-transcriptional gene regulation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019736144&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jplph.2017.05.012
DO - 10.1016/j.jplph.2017.05.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 28575745
AN - SCOPUS:85019736144
SN - 0176-1617
VL - 216
SP - 35
EP - 43
JO - Journal of Plant Physiology
JF - Journal of Plant Physiology
ER -