Analysis of Small RNAs from Solanum torvum Swartz by Deep Sequencing

Abstract

Verticillium wilt causes substantial economic losses in eggplant by reducing its yield and quality. However, the relationship between the host and fungal pathogen is poorly understood. Large amounts of high quality clean reads were obtained from our samples. We used bioinformatics analysis to detect 373 differentially expressed miRNAs and 18 differentially expressed novel miRNAs. Eleven highly enriched MIRNA families were found to be involved in the resistance to Verticillium Wilt in eggplant. We identified the differentially expressed miRNAs among samples and analyzed their 78 target genes. These target genes were annotated with GO function enrichment and KEGG pathway association. The target genes included transcription factors such as TCP, E3 and FEX6 etc. Functional categorization of those target genes reflected a number of important pathways, which are involved in the plant’s resistance to various pathogens. These differentially expressed miRNAs and their target genes will provide a theoretical basis for the further study of Verticillium wilt-related miRNAs and the regulation of disease resistance mechanisms of eggplant at the miRNA level.