Analyses of a Glycine max Degradome Library Identify microRNA Targets and MicroRNAs that Trigger Secondary SiRNA Biogenesis

Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression mainly by guiding cleavage of target mRNAs. In this study, a degradome library constructed from different soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) tissues was deep-sequenced. 428 potential targets of small interfering RNAs and 25 novel miRNA families were identified. A total of 211 potential miRNA targets, including 174 conserved miRNA targets and 37 soybean-specific miRNA targets, were identified. Among them, 121 targets were first discovered in soybean. The signature distribution of soybean primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) showed that most pri-miRNAs had the characteristic pattern of Dicer processing. The biogenesis of TAS3 small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) was conserved in soybean, and nine Auxin Response Factors were identified as TAS3 siRNA targets. Twenty-three miRNA targets produced secondary small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in soybean. These targets were guided by five miRNAs: gma-miR393, gma-miR1508, gma-miR1510, gma-miR1514, and novel-11. Multiple targets of these secondary siRNAs were detected. These 23 miRNA targets may be the putative novel TAS genes in soybean. Global identification of miRNA targets and potential novel TAS genes will contribute to research on the functions of miRNAs in soybean.     

A loop‐to‐base processing mechanism underlies the biogenesis of plant microRNAs miR319 and miR159

The first step in microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis usually involves cleavage at the base of its fold‐back precursor. Here, we describe a non‐canonical processing mechanism for miRNAs miR319 and miR159 in Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that their biogenesis begins with the cleavage of the loop, instead of the usual cut at the base of the stem–loop structure. DICER‐LIKE 1 (DCL1) proceeds then with three additional cuts until the mature miRNA is released. We further show that the conserved upper stem of the miR319 precursor is essential to organize its biogenesis, whereas sequences below the miRNA/miRNA^* region are dispensable. In addition, the bulges present in the fold‐back structure reduce the accumulation of small RNAs other than the miRNA. The biogenesis of miR319 is conserved in the moss Physcomitrella patens, showing that this processing mechanism is ancient. These results provide new insights into the plasticity of small‐RNA pathways.     

An Agrobacterium‐delivered CRISPR/Cas9 system for high‐frequency targeted mutagenesis in maize

CRISPR/Cas9 is a powerful genome editing tool in many organisms, including a number of monocots and dicots. Although the design and application of CRISPR/Cas9 is simpler compared to other nuclease‐based genome editing tools, optimization requires the consideration of the DNA delivery and tissue regeneration methods for a particular species to achieve accuracy and efficiency. Here, we describe a public sector system, ISU Maize CRISPR, utilizing Agrobacterium‐delivered CRISPR/Cas9 for high‐frequency targeted mutagenesis in maize. This system consists of an Escherichia coli cloning vector and an Agrobacterium binary vector. It can be used to clone up to four guide RNAs for single or multiplex gene targeting. We evaluated this system for its mutagenesis frequency and heritability using four maize genes in two duplicated pairs: Argonaute 18 (ZmAgo18a and ZmAgo18b) and dihydroflavonol 4‐reductase or anthocyaninless genes (a1 and a4). T₀ transgenic events carrying mono‐ or diallelic mutations of one locus and various combinations of allelic mutations of two loci occurred at rates over 70% mutants per transgenic events in both Hi‐II and B104 genotypes. Through genetic segregation, null segregants carrying only the desired mutant alleles without the CRISPR transgene could be generated in T₁ progeny. Inheritance of an active CRISPR/Cas9 transgene leads to additional target‐specific mutations in subsequent generations. Duplex infection of immature embryos by mixing two individual Agrobacterium strains harbouring different Cas9/gRNA modules can be performed for improved cost efficiency. Together, the findings demonstrate that the ISU Maize CRISPR platform is an effective and robust tool to targeted mutagenesis in maize.     

CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs generate heritable mutations for genes involved in small RNA processing of Glycine max and Medicago truncatula

Processing of double‐stranded RNA precursors into small RNAs is an essential regulator of gene expression in plant development and stress response. Small RNA processing requires the combined activity of a functionally diverse group of molecular components. However, in most of the plant species, there are insufficient mutant resources to functionally characterize each encoding gene. Here, mutations in loci encoding protein machinery involved in small RNA processing in soya bean and Medicago truncatula were generated using the CRISPR/Cas9 and TAL‐effector nuclease (TALEN) mutagenesis platforms. An efficient CRISPR/Cas9 reagent was used to create a bi‐allelic double mutant for the two soya bean paralogous Double‐stranded RNA‐binding2 (GmDrb2a and GmDrb2b) genes. These mutations, along with a CRISPR/Cas9‐generated mutation of the M. truncatula Hua enhancer1 (MtHen1) gene, were determined to be germ‐line transmissible. Furthermore, TALENs were used to generate a mutation within the soya bean Dicer‐like2 gene. CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis of the soya bean Dicer‐like3 gene and the GmHen1a gene was observed in the T₀ generation, but these mutations failed to transmit to the T₁ generation. The irregular transmission of induced mutations and the corresponding transgenes was investigated by whole‐genome sequencing to reveal a spectrum of non‐germ‐line‐targeted mutations and multiple transgene insertion events. Finally, a suite of combinatorial mutant plants were generated by combining the previously reported Gmdcl1a, Gmdcl1b and Gmdcl4b mutants with the Gmdrb2ab double mutant. Altogether, this study demonstrates the synergistic use of different genome engineering platforms to generate a collection of useful mutant plant lines for future study of small RNA processing in legume crops.     

Sl‐lncRNA15492 interacts with Sl‐miR482a and affects Solanum lycopersicum immunity against Phytophthora infestans

Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the resistance of plants to infection by pathogens via interactions with microRNAs (miRNAs). Long non‐coding RNAs are cleaved by miRNAs to produce phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs), which, as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), function as decoys for mature miRNAs, thus inhibiting their expression, and contain pre‐miRNA sequences to produce mature miRNAs. However, whether lncRNAs and miRNAs mediate other molecular mechanisms during plant resistance to pathogens is unknown. In this study, as a positive regulator, Sl‐lncRNA15492 from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Zaofen No. 2) plants affected tomato resistance to Phytophthora infestans. Gain‐ and loss‐of‐function experiments and RNA ligase‐mediated 5′‐amplification of cDNA ends (RLM‐5′ RACE) also revealed that Sl‐miR482a was negatively involved in tomato resistance by targeting Sl‐NBS‐LRR genes and that silencing of Sl‐NBS‐LRR1 decreased tomato resistance. Sl‐lncRNA15492 inhibited the expression of mature Sl‐miR482a, whose precursor was located within the antisense sequence of Sl‐lncRNA15492. Further degradome analysis and additional RLM‐5′ RACE experiments verified that mature Sl‐miR482a could also cleave Sl‐lncRNA15492. These results provide a mechanism by which lncRNAs might inhibit precursor miRNA expression through antisense strands of lncRNAs, and demonstrate that Sl‐lncRNA15492 and Sl‐miR482a mutually inhibit the maintenance of Sl‐NBS‐LRR1 homeostasis during tomato resistance to P. infestans.     

靶向miRNA前体不同类型sgRNA的丰度及特异性评估

CRISPR/Cas技术能高效进行基因组定点编辑,但不同细菌来源或人工改造的Cas9以及Cpf1等核酸酶识别的PAM (protospacer adjacent motif)有差异,因此不同的基因编辑核酸酶可能采用不同类型的sgRNAs(small guide RNAs)。MicroRNAs (miRNAs)是一类调控性的小分子非编码RNAs,为了研究miRNA前体中是否可能存在特异性高的sgRNAs靶点,本文利用本课题组前期开发的生物信息学软件CRISPR-offinder,对靶向28 645条miRNA前体的11种不同类型sgRNA的丰度及特异性进行了分析,并利用CRISPR/Cas9慢病毒技术构建了猪miR-302/367基因簇敲除细胞系,对构建的猪miRNA敲除细胞系的效率进行了检测。结果表明,每个miRNA前体中平均存在约8种不同类型sgRNA的靶点;通过评估靶向猪miRNA前体sgRNA的脱靶效应,发现其中特异性高的sgRNA仅占18.2%;通过CRISPR/Cas9慢病毒技术成功构建了猪miR-302/367基因簇敲除细胞系,发现通过该技术构建miRNA敲除细胞系的效率为40%。本研究为利用CRISPR/Cas技术靶向敲除miRNA提供了重要资源。     

Comparative expression of miRNA genes and miRNA-based AFLP marker analysis in cultivated tetraploid cottons

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that down-regulate gene expression in a sequence specific manner to control plant growth and development. The identification and characterization of miRNAs are critical steps in finding their target genes and elucidating their functions. The objective of the present study was to assess the genetic variation of miRNA genes through expression comparisons and miRNA-based AFLP marker analysis. Seven miRNAs were first selected for RT-PCR and four for quantitative RT-PCR analysis that showed considerably high or differential expression levels in early stages of boll development. Except for miR160a, differential gene expression of miR171, 390a, and 396a was detected in early developing bolls at one or more timepoints between two cultivated cotton cultivars, Pima Phy 76 (Gossypium barbadense) and Acala 1517-99 (Gossypium hirsutum). Our further work demonstrated that genetic diversity of miRNA genes can be assessed by miRNA-AFLP analysis using primers designed from 22 conserved miRNA genes in combination with AFLP primers. Homologous miRNA genes can be also identified and isolated for sequencing and confirmation using this homology-based genotyping approach. This strategy offers an alternative to isolating a full length of miRNA genes and their up-stream and down-stream sequences. The significance of the expression and sequence differences of miRNAs between cotton species or genotypes needs further studies.     

Activities and specificities of CRISPR/Cas9 and Cas12a nucleases for targeted mutagenesis in maize

CRISPR/Cas9 and Cas12a (Cpf1) nucleases are two of the most powerful genome editing tools in plants. In this work, we compared their activities by targeting maize glossy2 gene coding region that has overlapping sequences recognized by both nucleases. We introduced constructs carrying SpCas9‐guide RNA (gRNA) and LbCas12a‐CRISPR RNA (crRNA) into maize inbred B104 embryos using Agrobacterium‐mediated transformation. On‐target mutation analysis showed that 90%–100% of the Cas9‐edited T0 plants carried indel mutations and 63%–77% of them were homozygous or biallelic mutants. In contrast, 0%–60% of Cas12a‐edited T0 plants had on‐target mutations. We then conducted CIRCLE‐seq analysis to identify genome‐wide potential off‐target sites for Cas9. A total of 18 and 67 potential off‐targets were identified for the two gRNAs, respectively, with an average of five mismatches compared to the target sites. Sequencing analysis of a selected subset of the off‐target sites revealed no detectable level of mutations in the T1 plants, which constitutively express Cas9 nuclease and gRNAs. In conclusion, our results suggest that the CRISPR/Cas9 system used in this study is highly efficient and specific for genome editing in maize, while CRISPR/Cas12a needs further optimization for improved editing efficiency.     

成簇pri-miRNAs表达载体的构建及表达验证

目的:旨在建立一个多重表达任意miRNA的方案,实现多个pri-miRNA表达阅读框的串联,用于miRNA簇或者miRNA家族的功能研究。方法:通过改造CRISPR/Cas9系统共表达载体42230,插入EGFP编码序列以及单个pri-miRNA序列,实现单个pri-miRNA表达载体可视化的构建。在单个pri-miRNA表达载体的基础上,通过同源重组的方式,插入下一个pri-miRNA序列,实现多个pri-miRNA表达阅读框的串联表达。结果:以miR29家族的三个miRNA为例,验证了在pri-miRNA表达阅读框串联方面的可行性;在多重的pri-miRNA表达载体中,miRNA成熟体验证结果表明,pri-miR29a和pri-miR29b能够在哺乳动物细胞中被加工成熟,其成熟体明显地过表达。在转染的293A细胞中,miR29家族的靶基因PTEN的表达水平显著降低。结论:所构建的pri-miRNA多重表达方案,能够实现多个外源miRNA在同一细胞中的共表达,对于探索miRNA家族和miRNA簇的拮抗或协同调控功能起到重要的推进作用。     

Generation of targeted mutant rice using a CRISPR‐Cpf1 system

CRISPR‐Cpf1 is a newly identified CRISPR‐Cas system, and Cpf1 was recently engineered as a molecular tool for targeted genome editing in mammalian cells. To test whether the engineered CRISPR‐Cpf1 system could induce the production of rice mutants, we selected two genome targets in the OsPDS and OsBEL genes. Our results show that both targets could be efficiently mutated in transgenic rice plants using CRISPR‐Cpf1. We found that pre‐crRNAs with a full‐length direct repeat sequence exhibited considerably increased efficiencies compared with mature crRNAs. In addition, the specificity and transmission of the mutation were investigated, and the behaviours of crRNA‐Cpf1‐induced plant targeted genome mutagenesis were assessed. Taken together, our results indicate that CRISPR‐Cpf1 expression via stable transformation can efficiently generate specific and heritable targeted mutations in rice and thereby constitutes a novel and important approach to specific and precise plant genome editing.     

The CRISPR/Cas system can be used as nuclease for in planta gene targeting and as paired nickases for directed mutagenesis in Arabidopsis resulting in heritable progeny

The CRISPR/Cas nuclease is becoming a major tool for targeted mutagenesis in eukaryotes by inducing double‐strand breaks (DSBs) at pre‐selected genomic sites that are repaired by non‐homologous end joining (NHEJ) in an error‐prone way. In plants, it could be demonstrated that the Cas9 nuclease is able to induce heritable mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana and rice. Gene targeting (GT) by homologous recombination (HR) can also be induced by DSBs. Using a natural nuclease and marker genes, we previously developed an in planta GT strategy in which both a targeting vector and targeting locus are activated simultaneously via DSB induction during plant development. Here, we demonstrate that this strategy can be used for natural genes by CRISPR/Cas‐mediated DSB induction. We were able to integrate a resistance cassette into the ADH1 locus of A. thaliana via HR. Heritable events were identified using a PCR‐based genotyping approach, characterised by Southern blotting and confirmed on the sequence level. A major concern is the specificity of the CRISPR/Cas nucleases. Off‐target effects might be avoided using two adjacent sgRNA target sequences to guide the Cas9 nickase to each of the two DNA strands, resulting in the formation of a DSB. By amplicon deep sequencing, we demonstrate that this Cas9 paired nickase strategy has a mutagenic potential comparable with that of the nuclease, while the resulting mutations are mostly deletions. We also demonstrate the stable inheritance of such mutations in A. thaliana.