Chapter 16 - Crosstalk between small-RNAs and their linked with abiotic stresses tolerance in wheat

Abstract

Environment fluctuations including in-field stressors (biotic and abiotic factors) directly affect yield attributes of wheat crop. Plant-environment interaction is detrimental for determining the plant growth and development. Several endogenous substances play substantial role in the better shape of plant under normal and unfavorable situations. Among them, small RNAs (sRNA) are central regulators for gene expression pattern and downstream signaling cascade that regulate developmental phase of wheat under multiple stressors. sRNAs are a distinct type of endogenous, small, noncoding regulatory RNAs playing significant roles in developmental and regulatory component under abiotic stresses via posttranscriptional regulators in sequence-specific manner. Generally, abiotic stress-induced miRNAs downregulate already transcribed mRNAs and help in accumulating positive regulators. Recently, numerous methodologies and molecular biology tools, viz., genome-wide association mapping, up- and downregulation of candidate miRNAs in diverse plant species showed their mechanistic involvement in multiple abiotic stresses. This chapter emphasizes biogenesis and modulatory importance of miRNAs for the enhancement multiple abiotic stress tolerance in wheat. This chapter also summarizes the key understanding regarding diverse miRNAs in regulation of plant developmental phases under stress environment.