Abstract
BackgroundmicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, noncoding, small RNAs that have essential regulatory functions in plant growth, development, and stress response processes. However, limited information is available about their functions in sexual reproduction of flowering plants. Pollen development is an important process in the life cycle of a flowering plant and is a major factor that affects the yield and quality of crop seeds.ResultsThis study aims to identify miRNAs involved in pollen development. Two independent small RNA libraries were constructed from the flower buds of the male sterile line (Bcajh97-01A) and male fertile line (Bcajh97-01B) of Brassica campestris ssp. chinensis. The libraries were subjected to high-throughput sequencing by using the Illumina Solexa system. Eight novel miRNAs on the other arm of known pre-miRNAs, 54 new conserved miRNAs, and 8 novel miRNA members were identified. Twenty-five pairs of novel miRNA/miRNA* were found. Among all the identified miRNAs, 18 differentially expressed miRNAs with over two-fold change between flower buds of male sterile line (Bcajh97-01A) and male fertile line (Bcajh97-01B) were identified. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that most of the differentially expressed miRNAs were preferentially expressed in flower buds of the male fertile line (Bcajh97-01B). Degradome analysis showed that a total of 15 genes were predicted to be the targets of seven miRNAs.ConclusionsOur findings provide an overview of potential miRNAs involved in pollen development and interactions between miRNAs and their corresponding targets, which may provide important clues on the function of miRNAs in pollen development.
Highlights
MicroRNAs are endogenous, noncoding, small RNAs that have essential regulatory functions in plant growth, development, and stress response processes
Our study provides clues to explore miRNA group involved in pollen development and the interactions between miRNAs and their targets
Analysis of small RNA library data sets and the small RNA profile To identify miRNAs involved in pollen development in the male sterile line ‘Bcajh97-01A’ and the male fertile line ‘Bcajh97-01B’, two independent small RNA libraries from the flower buds collected from the two lines were sequenced by using Illumina Solexa high-throughput sequencing technology
Summary
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, noncoding, small RNAs that have essential regulatory functions in plant growth, development, and stress response processes. A series of genes which were successively renamed Brassica campestris Male Fertile (BcMF) 2 [7], BcMF3 [8], BcMF4 [9], up to BcMF21 [10], have been demonstrated to be involved in pollen development in Brassica campestris Among these genes, one type was polygalacturonase gene, which participated in pollen extine or intine development, such as BcMF6 [11], BcMF2 [7], and BcMF9 [12]. These previous studies provide important information for understanding the gene regulatory networks of pollen development. The mechanisms that underlie pollen development remain unclear, and further studies must be conducted
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