Identification of novel miRNAs and miRNA expression profiling in wheat hybrid necrosis

Jianping Zhou; Yan Cheng; Meiqi Yin; Ennian Yang; Wenping Gong; Cheng Liu; Xuelian Zheng; Kejun Deng; Zhenglong Ren; Yong Zhang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117507

Identification of novel miRNAs and miRNA expression profiling in wheat hybrid necrosis

PLoS One. 2015 Feb 23;10(2):e0117507. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117507. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
² Crop Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610066, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Wenjiang, Chengdu 611130, China.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in a vast array of biological processes, including growth and development, defense against viral infection, and responses to environmental changes in plant. Wheat hybrid necrosis is an interesting genetic phenomenon observed frequency and it is lethal or semi lethal, resulting in gradual death or loss of productivity. However, the molecular basis and mechanisms associated with hybrid necrosis in wheat are still not well understood. Here, we report the population and expression profiles of miRNAs in wheat hybrid necrosis. We identified a total of 57 conserved miRNA families as well as 182 putative novel miRNAs. Expression profiling revealed that expression of 49 known miRNAs and 165 novel miRNAs was changed in hybrid necrosis. And the expression levels of some miRNAs and their predicated targets have been confirmed by qRT-PCR. These results indicate that these miRNAs, especially miR159, miR166, miR167 and miR5072 could be involved in the extensive regulation of gene expression in response to hybrid necrosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Validation Study

MeSH terms

Gene Expression Profiling*
MicroRNAs / genetics*
Plant Diseases / genetics*
Triticum / genetics*

Substances

MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31271420, No.31330017 and No. 30800685), the National Transgenic Major Project (No. 2014ZX0801003B-002) and the Applied Fundamental Research Fund of Sichuan Province (No. 2014JY0006). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.