Xiao Liang, Man Liting, Yang Lina, Zhang Jinmei, Liu Baoyao, Quan Mingyang, Lu Wenjie, Fang Yuanyuan, Wang Dan, Du Qingzhang, Zhang Deqiang
National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2021 Aug 30;12:704941. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.704941. eCollection 2021.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs), important posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression, play a crucial role in plant growth and development. A single miRNA can regulate numerous target genes, making the determination of its function and interaction with targets challenging. We identified PtomiR403b target to , which encodes a galactosyltransferase responsible for the biosynthesis of cell wall polysaccharides. We performed an association study and epistasis and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to explore how the genetic interaction between and its target underlies wood formation. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based association studies identified 25 significant associations ( < 0.01, < 0.05), and and were associated with five traits, suggesting a role for PtomiR403b and in wood formation. Epistasis analysis identified 93 significant pairwise epistatic associations with 10 wood formation traits, and 37.89% of the SNP-SNP pairs indicated interactions between and . We performed an MR analysis to demonstrate the causality of the relationships between SNPs in and wood property traits and that modulates wood formation by regulating expression of . Therefore, our findings will facilitate dissection of the functions and interactions with miRNA-targets.
微小RNA（miRNA）是基因表达重要的转录后调节因子，在植物生长发育中发挥关键作用。单个miRNA可调控众多靶基因，这使得确定其功能以及与靶标的相互作用颇具挑战性。我们鉴定出了PtomiR403b的靶标，其编码一种负责细胞壁多糖生物合成的半乳糖基转移酶。我们进行了关联研究、上位性分析以及孟德尔随机化（MR）分析，以探究与它的靶标之间的遗传相互作用如何影响木材形成。基于单核苷酸多态性（SNP）的关联研究确定了25个显著关联（<0.01，<0.05），并且与五个性状相关，这表明PtomiR403b和在木材形成中发挥作用。上位性分析确定了93个与10个木材形成性状显著的成对上位性关联，并且37.89%的SNP-SNP对表明与之间存在相互作用。我们进行了MR分析，以证明中SNP与木材性质性状之间关系的因果性，并且通过调控的表达来调节木材形成。因此，我们的研究结果将有助于剖析与miRNA靶标的功能及相互作用。
