MicroRNA expression profiles in the emerging tillers and inflorescence of switchgrass, a major feedstock for biofuel production

Autor: Ramanjulu Sunkar, Yun Zheng, Jessica Matts, Guru Jagadeeswaran
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Indian Journal of Plant Physiology. 22:558-565
ISSN: 0974-0252
0019-5502
DOI: 10.1007/s40502-017-0343-7
Popis: MicroRNAs are known to regulate almost all developmental processes in plants. These are ubiquitously expressed and most importantly their abundances vary by several orders of magnitude in different tissues and developmental stages. MicroRNA profiles in seedlings and leaves of switchgrass have been reported but not from the inflorescence or tillers. The overall small RNA population in inflorescence differs from the other vegetative organs, and, moreover, miRNAs are important regulators of flowering and flower development, thus inflorescence was chosen. Likewise, emerging tillers were chosen to identify miRNAs that might play a role in tillering, which is an important trait contributing to higher biomass production. The sequencing followed by computational analyses of small RNA libraries generated from inflorescence and emerging tillers revealed the identification of 28 conserved and 4 novel miRNA families. The expression levels of most miRNA families and miRNA variants within a family displayed greater differences between the tissues. Importantly, this study has offered insights into differences in abundances of miRNA families in the inflorescence and tillers. Specifically, the reported miRNA profiles from tillers are a valuable resource to examine which of these miRNAs play important roles in tillering, an important agronomic trait in this bioenergy crop.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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