Function identification of miR482b, a negative regulator during tomato resistance to .

Tomato is an important horticultural and economic crop cultivated worldwide. As becomes a huge threat to tomato production, it is necessary to study the resistance mechanisms of tomato against . Our previous research has found that miR482 might be involved in tomato-. interaction. In this study, miR482b precursor was cloned from "L3708" and miR482b was shown to decrease in abundance in tomato following . infection. Compared to wild-type tomato plants, tomato plants that overexpressed miR482b displayed more serious disease symptoms after . infection, with more necrotic cells, longer lesion diameters, and increased . abundance. Meanwhile, silencing of miR482b was performed by short tandem target mimic (STTM), resulting in enhancement of tomato resistance to . . Using miRNA and degradome data sets, disease-resistance genes targeted by miR482b were validated. Negative correlation between the expression of miR482b and its target genes was found in all -overexpressing and -silencing tomato plants. Our results provide insight into tomato miR482b involved in the response to . infection, and demonstrate that miR482b- is an important component in the network of tomato-. interaction.