MiRNA alterations are an important mechanism in the adaptation of maize to a low-phosphate environment
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Maize is a globally important food and feed crop, and a low-phosphate (Pi) supply in the soil frequently limits maize yield in many areas. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the development and adaptation of plants to the environment. In this study, the spatio-temporal miRNA transcript profiling of the maize inbred line Q319 root and leaf in response to low Pi was analyzed with high-throughput sequencing technologies, and the expression patterns of certain target genes were detected by real-time RT-PCR. Complex small RNA populations were detected after low-Pi culture and displayed different patterns in the root and leaf. miRNAs identified as responding to Pi deficiency can be grouped into ‘early’ miRNAs that respond rapidly, and often non-specifically, to Pi deficiency, and ‘late’ miRNAs that alter the morphology, physiology or metabolism of plants upon prolonged Pi deficiency. The miR827-Nitrogen limitation adaptation (NLA)-mediated post-transcriptional pathway was conserved in response to Pi availability of maize, but the miR399-mediated post-transcriptional pathway was different from Arabidopsis. Abiotic stress-related miRNAs engaged in interactions of different signaling and/or metabolic pathways. Auxin-related miRNAs (zma-miR393, zma-miR160a/b/c, zma-miR160d/e/g, zma-miR167a/b/c/d and zma-miR164a/b/c/d/g) and their targets play important roles in promoting primary root growth, inhibiting lateral root development and retarding upland growth of maize when subjected to low Pi. The changes in expression of miRNAs and their target genes suggest that the miRNA regulation/alterations compose an important mechanism in the adaptation of maize to a low-Pi environment; certain miRNAs participate in root architecture modification via the regulation of auxin signaling. A complex regulatory mechanism of miRNAs in response to a low-Pi environment exists in maize, revealing obvious differences from that in Arabidopsis.
ORGANISM(S): Zea mays
PROVIDER: GSE70612 | GEO | 2015/07/08
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA289149
REPOSITORIES: GEO
ACCESS DATA