Dynamics of miR156 and miR172 involved in the flowering of Jatropha curcas L.

Abstract

Jatropha curcas is a plant that accumulates high-quality oil in its seeds, which is capable of being transformed into liquid biofuel. However, several aspects of its fl owering are still unknown, which is a key step in the production of fruits, seeds, and oil. Flowering is a complex process that is regulated by various factors at the molecular level, including microRNAs (miRNAs). Th ere is evidence suggesting that the miRNAs of the miR156 and miR172 families play a key role in the fl owering transition of plants. For this reason, the dynamics of miR156 and miR172 were studied during a production cycle of J. curcas. Our results reveal that J. curcas has a mechanism for the expression of these miRNAs that diff ers from that reported for the vast majority of angiosperms, since the expression of both families of miRNAs was positively correlated with the phenological state of J. curcas. We discuss the implications of these fi ndings and how the regulatory mechanisms of miR156 and miR172 diff er from what has been reported thus far.

miR172 Regulates both Vegetative and Reproductive Development in the Perennial Woody Plant Jatropha curcas

“…S1 ), and therefore, a pair of miR172a primers can detect the expression of all mature miR172s; qRT-PCR was performed with total RNAs extracted from various tissues. The results indicated that there was an age-related increase in miR172 expression in Jatropha ( Fig.�1B ), which is consistent with a recent study of dynamics of miR172s during a production cycle of Jatropha ( S�nchez-Guti�rrez et�al. 2018) .…”

Scion control of miRNA abundance and tree maturity in grafted avocado

“…SPL4 is known to promote the transition to reproductive maturation in plants at least in part through activation of various floral identity genes [25–27]. miR172 acts antagonistically to miR156 and is considered a positive regulator of flowering by repressing AP2 like floral repressor genes [24, 28–30]. Transcript abundance of the AP2 homolog, PaRAP2.7B , was inversely correlated with miR172 and highly expressed in the seedling rootstocks and scions relative to clonal rootstocks and budwood scions (Fig.…”