In silico MCMV Silencing Concludes Potential Host-Derived miRNAs in Maize

Abstract

Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus (MCMV) is a deleterious pathogen which causes Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease (MLND) that results in substantial yield loss of Maize crop worldwide. The positive-sense RNA genome of MCMV (4.4 kb) encodes six proteins: P32 (32 kDa protein), RNA dependent RNA polymerases (P50 and P111), P31 (31 kDa protein), P7 (7 kDa protein), coat protein (25 kDa). P31, P7 and coat protein are encoded from sgRNA1, located at the 3′end of the genome and sgRNA2 is located at the extremity of the 3′genome end. The objective of this study is to locate the possible attachment sites of Zea mays derived miRNAs in the genome of MCMV using four diverse miRNA target prediction algorithms. In total, 321 mature miRNAs were retrieved from miRBase (miRNA database) and were tested for hybridization of MCMV genome. These algorithms considered the parameters of seed pairing, minimum free energy, target site accessibility, multiple target sites, pattern recognition and folding energy for attachment. Out of 321 miRNAs only 10 maize miRNAs are predicted for silencing of MCMV genome. The results of this study can hence act as the first step towards the development of MCMV resistant transgenic Maize plants through expression of the selected miRNAs.

Assembly and Annotation of Transcriptome Provided Evidence of miRNA Mobility between Wheat and Wheat Stem Sawfly

“…Since WSS larvae eat plant tissues for survival, it is very likely that plant miRNAs are taken inside of the insect body within their dietary consumptions. Several studies have provided evidence of trans -kingdom transfer of sRNAs from plant to other species which are in close contact; plant to virion ( Iqbal et al, 2017 ), plant to nematodes ( Tian et al, 2016 ), and plant to animal during feeding ( Zhang et al, 2012 ). Wheat miRNAs might also act as the regulators of insect metabolism.…”

“…miRNAs from one species may function at interspecies level, targeting genes or genomes of organisms which they have physical contact. Very recently, independent studies have been reported several examples of trans -kingdom delivery of sRNAs from; plant to virion ( Iqbal et al, 2017 ), oomycetes to plant ( Jia et al, 2017 ), plant to nematodes ( Tian et al, 2016 ). Similar to what these studies suggested, miRNAs might also be effective in regulating insect–host interactions at WSS larval stages once larva gets into the stem of the host plant.…”

A novel computational approach to the silencing of Sugarcane Bacilliform Guadeloupe A Virus determines potential host-derived MicroRNAs in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.)

“…Similar studies have been published previously using multiple computational algorithms to identify a best fit miRNA for a desirable target to understand plant-virus interaction. First time, genome-wide identification and comprehensive analysis was carried out to predict maize (Zea-mays)-encoded miRNA targets against maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) (Iqbal et al, 2017). We have adopted the same novel computational strategy to predict the sugarcane-encode miRNA targets in the SCBGAV genome to combat badnaviruses in sugarcane.…”

In silicoIdentification and Functional Characterization of Conserved miRNAs in Fibre Biogenesis CropCorchorus capsularis

“…MicroRNAs are now being prioritized in the molecular research for their diverse cellular applications from the post-transcriptional regulation to gene expression [84,85]. Although miRNAs have been extensively studied for several years in many plant species [86,87,88], but no systematic study has been performed on the C. capsularis. The present study was carried out to identify the putative conserved microRNA candidates from the genome of C. capsularis by employing different screening process.…”