National Engineering Research Center for Wheat, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2013 Sep 23;13:140. doi: 10.1186/1471-2229-13-140.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) that down-regulate target genes by mRNA degradation or translational repression. Numerous plant miRNAs have been identified. Evidence is increasing for their crucial roles during plant development. In the globally important crop of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), the process by which grains are formed determines yield and end-use quality. However, little is known about miRNA-mediated developmental regulation of grain production. Here, we applied high-throughput sRNA sequencing and genome-wide mining to identify miRNAs potentially involved in the developmental regulation of wheat grains.
Four sRNA libraries were generated and sequenced from developing grains sampled at 5, 15, 25, and 30 days after pollination (DAP). Through integrative analysis, we identified 605 miRNAs (representing 540 families) and found that 86 are possibly involved in the control of grain-filling. Additionally, 268 novel miRNAs (182 families) were identified, with 18 of them also potentially related to that maturation process. Our target predictions indicated that the 104 grain filling-associated miRNAs might target a set of wheat genes involved in various biological processes, including the metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins, transcription, cellular transport, cell organization and biogenesis, stress responses, signal transduction, and phytohormone signaling. Together, these results demonstrate that the developmental steps by which wheat grains are filled is correlated with miRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks.
We identified 605 conserved and 268 novel miRNAs from wheat grains. Of these, 104 are potentially involved in the regulation of grain-filling. Our dataset provides a useful resource for investigating miRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms in cereal grains, and our results suggest that miRNAs contribute to this regulation during a crucial phase in determining grain yield and flour quality.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) 是一类调节性小 RNA (sRNAs)，通过 mRNA 降解或翻译抑制下调靶基因。已经鉴定出许多植物 miRNAs。越来越多的证据表明它们在植物发育过程中起着至关重要的作用。在全球重要的作物小麦 (Triticum aestivum L.) 中，谷物形成的过程决定了产量和最终用途的质量。然而，对于 miRNA 介导的谷物产量发育调控知之甚少。在这里，我们应用高通量 sRNA 测序和全基因组挖掘来鉴定可能参与小麦谷物发育调控的 miRNA。
从授粉后 5、15、25 和 30 天(DAP)取样的发育谷物中生成并测序了四个 sRNA 文库。通过综合分析，我们鉴定了 605 个 miRNAs（代表 540 个家族），并发现其中 86 个可能参与了灌浆的控制。此外，还鉴定了 268 个新的 miRNAs（182 个家族），其中 18 个可能与成熟过程有关。我们的靶标预测表明，104 个与灌浆相关的 miRNAs 可能靶向一组与各种生物过程相关的小麦基因，包括碳水化合物和蛋白质代谢、转录、细胞运输、细胞组织和生物发生、应激反应、信号转导和植物激素信号转导。综上所述，这些结果表明，小麦谷物灌浆的发育步骤与 miRNA 介导的基因调控网络有关。
我们从小麦谷物中鉴定出 605 个保守和 268 个新的 miRNAs。其中 104 个可能参与了灌浆的调控。我们的数据集为研究谷物中 miRNA 介导的调控机制提供了有用的资源，我们的结果表明，miRNAs 在决定谷物产量和面粉质量的关键阶段对这一调控做出了贡献。
