Abstract
Drought stress is a significant abiotic stress factor that affects wheat yield and quality. MicroRNA (miRNA) plays an important role in regulating caryopsis development in response to drought stress. However, little is known about the expression characteristics of miRNAs and how they regulate protein accumulation in wheat caryopsis under drought stress. To address this, two small RNA libraries of wheat caryopsis under control and drought stress conditions were constructed and sequenced. A total of 125 miRNAs were identified in the two samples, of which 110 were known and 15 were novel. A total of 1,981 miRNA target genes were predicted and functional annotations were obtained from various databases for 1,641 of them. Four miRNAs were identified as differential expression under drought stress, and the expression patterns of three of them were consistent with results obtained by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Moreover, three miRNA-target pairs showed negative regulation tendency, as revealed by RT-qPCR. Functional enrichment and pathway analysis revealed that four pathways might be involved in storage protein biosynthesis. Furthermore, drought stress significantly increased the accumulation of protein bodies and protein content in wheat endosperm. In summary, our findings suggest that drought stress may enhance storage protein by regulating the expression of miRNAs and their target genes.
Highlights
Drought stress is a major abiotic stress factor that poses a significant challenge to global crop production
The wheat cultivar selected in this study was Yangmai 16 provided by the Agricultural College of Yangzhou University, Jiangsu Province, China
15,536,948 and 10,340,923 effective reads were obtained from wheat caryopses under control and drought stress, respectively
Summary
Drought stress is a major abiotic stress factor that poses a significant challenge to global crop production. Long term or periodic droughts greatly affect crop growth and yield formation. Investigating drought resistance of crops is critical for achieving long-term productivity gains (Lawlor, 2013). In response to drought stress, wheat exhibits systematic adaptability in morphological structure, physiology, biochemistry, and gene regulation (Chaves et al, 2003). When subjected to drought stress, expression of relevant stress-resistant genes is induced and regulated by molecule-mediated sensory and conduction signaling systems. These include effector and regulatory molecules that miRNA Regulated Storage Protein Biosynthesis are directly involved in biochemical responses and expression products of non-encoding genes in wheat (Shinozaki and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, 2007)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
