Cloning and characterization of miRNAs from maize seedling roots under low phosphorus stress

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, non-coding regulatory RNAs that regulate gene expression by guiding target mRNA cleavage or translational inhibition in plants and animals. In this study, a small RNA library was constructed to identify conserved miRNAs as well as novel miRNAs in maize seedling roots under low level phosphorus stress. Twelve miRNAs were identified by high throughput sequencing of the library and subsequent analysis, two belong to conserved miRNA families (miRNA399b and miRNA156), and the remaining ten are novel and one of latter is conserved in gramineous species. Based on sequence homology, we predicted 125 potential target genes of these miRNAs and then expression patterns of 7 miRNAs were validated by semi-RT-PCR analysis. MiRNA399b, Zma-miR3, and their target genes (Zmpt1 and Zmpt2) were analyzed by real-time PCR. It is shown that both miRNA399b and Zma-miR3 are induced by low phosphorus stress and regulated by their target genes (Zmpt1 and Zmpt2). Moreover, Zma-miR3, regulated by two maize inorganic phosphate transporters as a newly identified miRNAs, would likely be directly involved in phosphate homeostasis, so was miRNA399b in Arabidopsis and rice. These results indicate that both conserved and maize-specific miRNAs play important roles in stress responses and other physiological processes correlated with phosphate starvation, regulated by their target genes. Identification of these differentially expressed miRNAs will facilitate us to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of maize seedling roots development under low level phosphorus stress.     

番茄SlmiR393基因超表达载体的构建及其靶基因鉴定

为研究番茄(Lycopersicum esculentum)的SlmiR393基因功能,采用生物信息学方法从番茄基因组数据库中获得SlmiR393的前体序列及其潜在的靶基因。以基因组DNA为模板,克隆了番茄SlmiR393前体基因并整合到pLP35S-100植物表达载体;采用5′ RACE RT-PCR技术验证SlmiR393对预测靶基因mRNA的剪切作用,采用定量PCR技术检测SlmiR393及其靶标基因在番茄不同组织的表达。结果表明,SlmiR393的前体序列含有完整的茎环结构;成熟miR393与3个生长素受体同源基因(SlTIR1、SlTIR1-like1和SlAFB)之间具有识别作用位点。SlmiR393可对番茄3个靶基因的转录本进行剪切降解;SlmiR393与3个不同靶基因(SlTIR1、SlTIR1-like1和SlAFB)的表达模式在叶和茎、花蕾、花中存在一定的互补关系。因此,推断番茄中的SlmiR393可能在特定的组织或发育时期介导特定的靶基因mRNA的剪切降解, 初步证实生长素受体同源基因为SlmiR393的靶基因。此外,成功构建以CaMV 35S为启动子的植物表达载体pLP35S-pre-SlmiR393, 为深入研究SlmiR393在番茄生长素信号转导中的功能奠定了基础。