The interaction between miR160 and miR165/166 in the control of leaf development and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis

Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 26;9(1):2832. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-39397-7.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that play important roles in plant development and abiotic stresses. To date, studies have mainly focused on the roles of individual miRNAs, however, a few have addressed the interactions among multiple miRNAs. In this study, we investigated the interplay and regulatory circuit between miR160 and miR165/166 and its effect on leaf development and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis using Short Tandem Target Mimic (STTM). By crossing STTM160 Arabidopsis with STTM165/166, we successfully generated a double mutant of miR160 and miR165/166. The double mutant plants exhibited a series of compromised phenotypes in leaf development and drought tolerance in comparison to phenotypic alterations in the single STTM lines. RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses suggested that the expression levels of auxin and ABA signaling genes in the STTM-directed double mutant were compromised compared to the two single mutants. Our results also suggested that miR160-directed regulation of auxin response factors (ARFs) contribute to leaf development via auxin signaling genes, whereas miR165/166- mediated HD-ZIP IIIs regulation confers drought tolerance through ABA signaling. Our studies further indicated that ARFs and HD-ZIP IIIs may play opposite roles in the regulation of leaf development and drought tolerance that can be further applied to other crops for agronomic traits improvement.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Abscisic Acid / metabolism
  • Acclimatization*
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis / physiology
  • Droughts
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Indoleacetic Acids / metabolism
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • MicroRNAs / physiology
  • Plant Leaves / growth & development*
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Stress, Physiological

Substances

  • Indoleacetic Acids
  • MIRN160 microRNA, Arabidopsis
  • MIRN165 microRNA, Arabidopsis
  • MIRN166 microRNA, Arabidopsis
  • MicroRNAs
  • Abscisic Acid