Insights into microRNA regulation of flower coloration in a lily cultivar Vivian petal

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MicroRNAs are a class of non-coding small RNAs involved in the negative regulation of gene expression, which plays critical roles in developmental and metabolic pathways. However, it is not well understood how miRNA regulation the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway in lily flowers. Using miRNA sequencing and target gene expression analysis, we explored the regulatory networks of miRNAs and their target-related flower coloration in lily petals. A total of 326 miRNAs were obtained by miRNA sequencing, including 285 known miRNAs and 41 new miRNAs. According to the psRNATarget prediction, there were a total of 75 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) that target 898 potential genes. We also screened the target genes including <italic>LvSPL, LvMYB5, LvWD, Lv3GT, LvGRF, LvARF, LvNAC, and LvMADS,</italic> which were targeted by LvmiR156, LvmiR828, LvmiR166, LvmiR396, LvmiR160, LvmiR167, LvmiR164, and LvmiR5179. These genes may be involved in regulating other secondary metabolic pathways, and formeing a complex regulatory network of anthocyanin biosynthesis. We therefore proposed a putative miRNA-target module associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis. In addition, we predicted the binding site of <italic>LvMYB5</italic>, the target gene of miR828, and speculated that miR828 targets regulate <italic>LvMYB5</italic> transcriptional translation through a cleavage site, which then inhibits anthocyanin synthesis. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the functional characterization of miRNAs and their targets in controlling anthocyanin production in plants and may lead to future identification and characterization of miRNAs in lilies.