MicroRNA 399 as a potential integrator of photo-response, phosphate homeostasis, and sucrose signaling under long day condition

Abstract

BackgroundPhotoperiod-sensitivity is a critical endogenous regulatory mechanism for plant growth and development under specific environmental conditions, while phosphate and sucrose signaling processes play key roles in cell growth and organ initiation. MicroRNA399 is phosphate-responsive, but, whether it has roles in other metabolic processes remains unknown.ResultsMicroRNA399 was determined to be sucrose-responsive through a microRNA array assay. High levels of sucrose inhibited the accumulation of microRNA399 family under phosphate starvation conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana. Similarly, exogenous sucrose supplementation also reduced microRNA399 expression in maize at developmental transition stages. RNA sequencing of a near-isogenic line(photoperiod-sensitive) line and its recurrent parent Huangzao4, a photoperiod-insensitive line, was conducted at various developmental stages. Members of microRNA399 family were down-regulated under long-day conditions in the photoperiod-sensitive near-isogenic line that accumulated more sucrose in vivo compared with the control line Huangzao4.ConclusionMicroRNA399s may play central roles in the integration of sucrose sensing and photoperiodic responses under long day conditions in maize.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1460-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Systematic Analysis of Alkaline/Neutral Invertase Genes Reveals the Involvement of Smi-miR399 in Regulation of SmNINV3 and SmNINV4 in Salvia miltiorrhiza

“…In addition, the expression level of miR399 can also be affected by sucrose. Previous studies showed that higher endogenous sucrose accumulation was accompanied by higher miR399 expression, whereas exogenous sucrose supplementation inhibited miR399 accumulation under phosphate starvation conditions [53]. In this study, we found the existence of the miR399- NINV module in various plant species (Table 2).…”

“…Both miR399 and NINVs were found to be sucrose-responsive. External sucrose supplementation inhibits the expression of miR399 in maize [53]. In addition, the NINV expression levels in Poncirus trifoliata were induced by sucrose, and decreaed by glucose [54].…”

Transcriptome-wide identification of novel circular RNAs in soybean in response to low-phosphorus stress

“…For example, a recent study in maize revealed that the PILNCR1-miR399 regulatory module is important for LP tolerance [47]. Similarly, Tian et al [8] reported that miR399 functions as a potential integrator of phosphate homeostasis. The regulatory protein pho2 results from a nonsense mutation in the target gene of miR399, which can cause excessive phosphate accumulation [50].…”

“…Phosphate starvation also induces miRNA responses in Populus tomentosa [6]. Moreover, as a longdistance signal, miR399 can regulate phosphate homeostasis in plants [7] and can serve as a potential integrator of photoresponses and phosphate homeostasis [8,9]. In Arabidopsis, a new class of small RNAs has been identified in phosphate-starved roots [10], and these small RNA mediate responses to P deficiency and regulate P homeostasis [11].…”

Sugar Signaling and Post-transcriptional Regulation in Plants: An Overlooked or an Emerging Topic?

“…miRNA156 also targets a variety of mRNAs that encode regulatory proteins involved in various physiological processes in plants ( Wang and Wang, 2015 ). Like miRNA156, miRNA399 was determined to be sucrose-responsive through a microRNA array assay and high levels of sucrose inhibited the accumulation of microRNA399 family under phosphate starvation conditions in Arabidopsis ( Tian et al, 2018b ). miRNA398, that is associated with the adaptive plant response to biotic, abiotic, and nutrient stresses and could be involved in sugar-signaling pathway ( Sunkar et al, 2006 ; Dugas and Bartel, 2008 ; Jia et al, 2009 ; Feng et al, 2015 ).…”