Abstract
Drought is among the most important natural disasters with severe effects on animals and plants. MicroRNAs are a class of noncoding RNAs that play a crucial role in plant growth, development, and response to stress factors, including drought. However, the microRNAs in drought responses in common vetch (Vicia sativa), an annual herbaceous leguminous plant commonly used for forage by including it in mixed seeding during winter and spring, have not been characterized. To explore the microRNAs’ response to drought in common vetch, we sequenced 10 small RNA (sRNA) libraries by the next-generation sequencing technology. We obtained 379 known miRNAs belonging to 38 families and 47 novel miRNAs. The two groups had varying numbers of differentially expressed miRNAs: 85 in the comparison group D5 vs C5 and 38 in the comparison group D3 vs C3. Combined analysis of mRNA and miRNA in the same samples under drought treatment identified 318 different target genes of 123 miRNAs. Functional annotation of the target genes revealed that the miRNAs regulate drought-responsive genes, such as leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase-encoding genes (LRR-RLKs), ABC transporter G family member 1 (ABCG1), and MAG2-interacting protein 2 (MIP2). The genes were involved in various pathways, including cell wall biosynthesis, reactive oxygen removal, and protein transport. The findings in this study provide new insights into the miRNA-mediated regulatory networks of drought stress response in common vetch.
Highlights
Common vetch is an annual high-yielding leguminous forage with high crude protein content and good palatability and is mainly used for hay, silage, and green manure [1,2]
Ten small RNA (sRNA) libraries were constructed to explore the molecular mechanisms of drought response in common vetch
Clean reads of 24nt (26.01%) in length accounted for the largest proportion of clean reads, while reads of 21–24nt collectively accounted for 55.60% of all the reads (Figure 1)
Summary
Common vetch is an annual high-yielding leguminous forage with high crude protein content and good palatability and is mainly used for hay, silage, and green manure [1,2]. It is an irreplaceable component in mixed cropping because of its high yields, forage quality, and capacity to increase soil nitrogen and promote the build up of organic matter content [3,4]. Common vetch can withstand up to 24 days of drought, and its biological functions are fully restored upon watering [10]
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