MicroRNA dynamics in a wild and cultivated species of Convolvulaceae exposed to drought stress

Abstract

Agricultural productivity is severely hampered by drought in many parts of the globe. It is well-known that wild plant species can tolerate drought better when compared with their closely related cultivated plant species. Better drought adaptation of wild species over cultivated ones is accounted for their ability to differentially regulate gene expression. miRNAs, known to regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, are admitted to play an important role in plant adaptation to stresses. This study aims at evaluating miRNA dynamics in a droughttolerant wild Ipomoea campanulata L. and drought-sensitive cultivated Jacquemontia pentantha (Jacq.) of the family Convolvulaceae under ex situ drought. Sequencing profiles revealed that 34 conserved miRNA families were analogous between the two species. Drought altered expression levels of several of these miRNAs in both the species. Drought-tolerant I. campanulata showed upregulation of miR398, miR168, miR858, miR162 and miR408, while miR394 and miR171 were downregulated. Droughtsensitive J. pentantha showed upregulation of miR394, miR156, miR160, miR164, miR167, miR172, miR319, miR395, miR396, miR403 and downregulation of miR157. Basal miRNA levels and their drought mediated regulation were very different between the two species. Differential drought sensitivities of these two plant species can be attributed to these innate variations in miRNA levels and their expression.

Identification of Exogenous Nitric Oxide-Responsive miRNAs from Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) under Drought Stress by High-Throughput Sequencing

“…mtr-miR398a-5p is an important member of the miR398 family. The miR398 family in Medicago sativa was up-regulated under drought stress, and resembled the results found in Convolvulaceae, Medicago truncatula, and Jacquemontia pentantha [62][63][64], but differed from the results reported in Ipomoea campanulata [65]. Previous studies have shown that miR398 was crucial for plant stress responses, as it regulates copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) levels [66].…”

Novel insights into water-deficit-responsive mRNAs and lncRNAs during fiber development in Gossypium hirsutum

“…These four lncRNAs potentially interact with a miRNA by forming an lncRNA-miRNA duplex, which functions as RNA interference (RNAi), and as a result, miRNA-targeted mRNA is normally translated into a functional protein [ 32 ]. MiR403 has been reported to be involved in plant drought [ 73 – 75 ], heat, salt and cadmium stress response in a tissue associated manner [ 73 ]. Additionally, miR403 has an antiviral role by controlling the expression of AGO2 (Argonaute 2) [ 76 ].…”

Determination of the MiRNAs Related to Bean Pyralid Larvae Resistance in Soybean Using Small RNA and Transcriptome Sequencing

“…It has been determined that miR394 mainly regulates the richness of the F-box domain proteins [50]. Previous studies have shown that when plants had suffered adversity stresses—such as B. cinerea , blue light, drought, and so on—the miR394 were downregulated in tomato [51], longan [52], wild Ipomoea campanulata L [53], and Saccharum spp . [54].…”