Abstract
Xylem is required for the growth and development of higher plants to provide water and mineral elements. The thickening of the xylem secondary cell wall (SCW) not only improves plant survival, but also provides raw materials for industrial production. Numerous studies have found that transcription factors and non-coding RNAs regulate the process of SCW thickening. Pinus massoniana is an important woody tree species in China and is widely used to produce materials for construction, furniture, and packaging. However, the target genes of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the developing xylem of P. massoniana are not known. In this study, a total of 25 conserved miRNAs and 173 novel miRNAs were identified via small RNA sequencing, and 58 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified between the developing xylem (PM_X) and protoplasts isolated from the developing xylem (PM_XP); 26 of these miRNAs were significantly up-regulated in PM_XP compared with PM_X, and 32 were significantly down-regulated. A total of 153 target genes of 20 conserved miRNAs and 712 target genes of 113 novel miRNAs were verified by degradome sequencing. There may be conserved miRNA-mRNA modules (miRNA-MYB, miRNA-ARF, and miRNA-LAC) involved in softwood and hardwood formation. The results of qRT-PCR-based parallel validation were in relatively high agreement. This study explored the potential regulatory network of miRNAs in the developing xylem of P. massoniana and provides new insights into wood formation in coniferous species.
Highlights
IntroductionThe xylem transports water and inorganic salts throughout plants and provides mechanical support for plant growth, and it is the basic channel for material and energy transport for plant organs [1]
The vascular tissue of higher plants consists mainly of the phloem and xylem
An increasing number of studies used single-cell sequencing to study the mechanism of wood formation [34], and our study found that the expression of a small number of miRNAs was induced after the removal of the cell wall, which suggests that we need more thinking in the use of protoplasts for plant signal transduction and cell osmolarity-related studies
Summary
The xylem transports water and inorganic salts throughout plants and provides mechanical support for plant growth, and it is the basic channel for material and energy transport for plant organs [1]. The secondary xylem arises from the vascular layer, and it is generally present when vascular plants undergo secondary growth. The secondary xylem, which is known as wood, is the raw material for paper, construction and textile industries, and it is closely related to human productivity and life. The secondary xylem includes vessels, parenchyma cells, and fibers. Vessels and fiber cells undergo secondary cell wall (SCW) thickening. This process increases the mechanical strength of plants and provides abundant lignocellulosic biomass material for human activities and materials [2,3].
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