Over-expression of osa-MIR396c decreases salt and alkali stress tolerance

Abstract

Salt and alkali stress are two of the main environmental factors limiting rice production. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of salinity and alkali stress tolerance is necessary to modify rice to increase its resistance to salinity and alkaline stress. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 21-nucleotide RNAs that are ubiquitous regulators of gene expression in eukaryotic organisms. In plants, miRNAs constitute one of five classes of small RNAs that function primarily as negative regulators for gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. Several plant miRNAs, such as miR396, play vital roles in plant growth, development and resistance to stresses. In this study, we identified osa-MIR396c, which shows dramatic transcript change under salt and alkali stress conditions in Oryza sativa. We designed an experiment to detect miRNA-target interaction and demonstrated that several transcription factors related to growth, development, and stress tolerance are targeted by osa-MIR396c. Transgenic rice and Arabidopsis thaliana plants constitutively over-expressing osa-MIR396c showed reduced salt and alkali stress tolerance compared to that of wild-type plants. Overall, this study further established a link between salt and alkali stress and osa-MIR396c in rice.

Repression of Growth Regulating Factors by the MicroRNA396 Inhibits Cell Proliferation by UV-B Radiation in Arabidopsis Leaves

“…In particular, miR396 has been previously reported to be regulated by various stresses in different plants species, such as drought (Zhou et al, 2010;Kantar et al, 2011;Li et al, 2011;T. Wang et al, 2011), cold (Zhou et al, 2008), aluminium (Al 3+ ; Chen et al, 2012), cadmium (Cd 2+ ; Ding et al, 2011), salt, and alkali stress (Ding et al, 2009;Gao et al, 2010). For example, transgenic rice (Oryza sativa) and Arabidopsis plants constitutively overexpressing rice miR396c show reduced salt and alkali stress tolerance compared with that of wild-type plants (Gao et al, 2010).…”

“…Wang et al, 2011), cold (Zhou et al, 2008), aluminium (Al 3+ ; Chen et al, 2012), cadmium (Cd 2+ ; Ding et al, 2011), salt, and alkali stress (Ding et al, 2009;Gao et al, 2010). For example, transgenic rice (Oryza sativa) and Arabidopsis plants constitutively overexpressing rice miR396c show reduced salt and alkali stress tolerance compared with that of wild-type plants (Gao et al, 2010). In addition, miR396 is strongly downregulated in cells giving rise to the syncytium in Arabidopsis, a plant root organ whose differentiation is induced by plant-parasitic cyst nematodes to create a source of nourishment (Hewezi et al, 2012).…”

Constitutive Expression of Rice MicroRNA528 Alters Plant Development and Enhances Tolerance to Salinity Stress and Nitrogen Starvation in Creeping Bentgrass

“…It would be interesting to know if different miRNAs have interactions in plant responses to abiotic stress. To this end, stem-loop RT-qPCR was conducted to analyze several conserved miRNAs that are implicated in plant abiotic stress responses, including miR396, miR156, and miR172 (Wu et al, 2009a;Gao et al, 2010;Hackenberg et al, 2012;Liang et al, 2012;Bhardwaj et al, 2014;Cui et al, 2014;Gupta et al, 2014;Pandey et al, 2014;Xie et al, 2015). Figure 11, A to C, shows that miR396, miR156, and miR172 were all down-regulated in transgenic plants overexpressing Osa-miR528, suggesting a potential cross talk of miR528 with other miRNAs in the regulatory network to orchestrate the plant response to stress.…”

MicroRNA Expression Profile in Hyperoxia-Exposed Newborn Mice During the Development of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

“…[6][7][8] Recent studies indicate that microRNAs are important in lung development 9 and that abnormal microRNA levels cause aberrant expression of gene products that may contribute to lung disease, including lung cancers and asthma, 10,11 so microRNAs might be useful diagnositic and/or prognostic markers for some diseases. To date, however, to our knowledge there have been no studies on microRNAs in the development of BPD.…”