Xiao Liang, Quan Mingyang, Du Qingzhang, Chen Jinhui, Xie Jianbo, Zhang Deqiang
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry UniversityBeijing, China.
National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry UniversityBeijing, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2017 Jun 21;8:1055. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01055. eCollection 2017.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in plant growth and development, but few studies have illuminated the allelic interactions among miRNAs and their targets in perennial plants. Here, we combined analysis of expression patterns and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based association studies to explore the interactions between and its four target genes ( and ) in 435 unrelated individuals of . Expression patterns showed a significant negative correlation ( = -0.447 to -0.411, < 0.01) between and its four targets in eight tissues of suggesting that Pto-miR475b may negatively regulate the four targets. Single SNP-based association studies identified 93 significant associations ( < 0.01, < 0.1) representing associations of 80 unique SNPs in and its four targets with nine traits, revealing their potential roles in tree growth and wood formation. Moreover, one common SNP in the precursor region significantly altered the secondary structure of the pre-Pto-miR475b and changed the expression level of . Analysis of epistatic interactions identified 115 significant SNP-SNP associations ( < 0.01) representing 45 unique SNPs from and its four targets for 10 traits, revealing that genetic interactions between and its targets influence quantitative traits of perennial plants. Our study provided a feasible strategy to study population genetics in forest trees and enhanced our understanding of miRNAs by dissecting the allelic interactions between this miRNA and its targets in .
微小RNA（miRNA）在植物生长发育中发挥着关键作用，但很少有研究阐明多年生植物中miRNA及其靶标之间的等位基因相互作用。在此，我们结合表达模式分析和基于单核苷酸多态性（SNP）的关联研究，以探究毛果杨435个无亲缘关系个体中Pto-miR475b及其四个靶基因（Pto-PPR1、Pto-PPR2、Pto-PPR3和Pto-PPR4）之间的相互作用。表达模式显示，在毛果杨的八个组织中，Pto-miR475b与其四个靶标之间存在显著负相关（r = -0.447至-0.411，P < 0.01），表明Pto-miR475b可能对这四个靶标起负调控作用。基于单个SNP的关联研究确定了93个显著关联（P < 0.01，Bonferroni校正P < 0.1），代表Pto-miR475b及其四个靶标中80个独特SNP与九个性状的关联，揭示了它们在树木生长和木材形成中的潜在作用。此外，前体区域的一个常见SNP显著改变了前体Pto-miR475b的二级结构，并改变了Pto-miR475b的表达水平。上位性相互作用分析确定了115个显著的SNP-SNP关联（P < 0.01），代表来自Pto-miR475b及其四个靶标的45个独特SNP与10个性状的关联，揭示了Pto-miR475b与其靶标之间的遗传相互作用影响多年生植物的数量性状。我们的研究提供了一种研究林木群体遗传学的可行策略，并通过剖析该miRNA与其在毛果杨中的靶标之间的等位基因相互作用，加深了我们对miRNA的理解。
