Construction and analysis of a library of miRNA in gold-coloured mutant leaves of Ginkgo biloba L.

Abstract

To gain insights into the regulatory networks of miRNAs related to golden colour formation in Ginkgo biloba leaves, we constructed an sRNA library of golden-green striped mutant leaves. A total of 213 known miRNAs comprising 54 miRNA families were obtained, and 214 novel miRNAs were identified in the mutant leaves. We further constructed a normal green leaf sRNA library as a control and compared the expression of miRNAs between mutant and normal leaves. We found 42 known and 54 novel differential expression candidate miRNAs; 39 were up-regulated and 57 down-regulated in mutants compared to normal leaves. Our transcriptome analysis and annotation of the predicted targets indicated that the potential roles of miRNAs in G. biloba leaves included involvement in the ‘Glutathione metabolism’, ‘Plant circadian rhythm’, and ‘Phenylalanine metabolism’ categories. miRNAs and their targets were further validated by qRT-PCR. The expression of miR159a and miR159c, in particular, was significantly higher in mutant leaves than in normal leaves, while their potential target gene CLT3, which is associated with chloroplast development, displayed the opposite expression pattern. In addition, the expression of miR396g-3p and miR396h was also significantly higher in mutant leaves than in normal leaves, while the target genes ABP1 (auxin-related gene) and PPR32 (chloroplast RNA editing protein), respectively, showed the opposite expression pattern. Combined with the transcriptome analysis, these data suggest that miR159, miR396, and their targets may participate in chloroplast development and hormone metabolism to regulate colour formation in G. biloba leaves.

Regulatory mechanisms and metabolic changes of miRNA during leaf color change in the bud mutation branches of Acer pictum subsp. mono

“…Li et al. found that the miR396g gene targeting chloroplast development and hormone metabolism in Ginkgo biloba leaves regulates leaf color ( Li et al., 2019 ). We predicted through correlation analysis that miR160b targeted ApSUS , miR396g targeted ApUGP2 , and miR6300 targeted ApUFGT .…”

Deep Sequencing Discovery and Profiling of Known and Novel miRNAs Produced in Response to DNA Damage in Rice

“…Previous studies have reported that a single miRNA can target multiple genes, or many miRNAs can regulate a single gene, suggesting the functional divergence of these miRNAs [ 10 ]. On average, every miRNA has 7, 19, and 17 target genes in Cavendish bananas, Ginkgo biloba, and Japanese apricot, respectively [ 2 , 10 , 49 ]. In our study, 40 percent of miRNAs targeted 91 to 110 genes and most miRNAs had more than 40 target genes.…”

“…There are many environmental factors that can cause DNA damage in living organisms, such as ultraviolet, ionizing radiation, alkylating agents, base analogs, and many more. If DNA damage is not rapidly and accurately repaired, it can lead to permanent genetic changes that significantly alter the organisms’ genetic and phenotypic characteristics [ 1 , 2 ]. Extensive DNA damage can even cause chromosomal instabilities resulting in the death of cells and/or the whole organism [ 3 ].…”