Analysis of phosphorus-deficient responsive miRNAs and cis-elements from soybean (Glycine max L.).
Phosphorus is one of the major factors controlling plant growth and productivity. Although physiological and molecular processes of P deficiency have been intensively investigated, our current understanding of the coordinated regulation of phosphate-responsive genes and signal networks is limited. In the present study, we performed a microarray-based genome-wide transcriptional analysis of miRNAs from soybean (Glycine max L.) under phosphate deficiency. miRNAs extracted from P-deficient and P-sufficient soybean were hybridized to an array containing 853 known plant miRNA sequences. An induction ratio significant at p<0.01 was observed for 57 miRNAs belonging to 27 families. Among these miRNA families, which differentially expressed, 7 and 8 were found to be up-regulated, whereas 17 and 6 were down-regulated in leaves and roots, respectively. Seven representative individual miRNAs were selected for qRT-PCR validation, and most showed an expression pattern similar to that on microarray. We further predicted P-responsive cis-elements from the promoters of miRNAs in response to and non-responding to P deficiency. In total, 125 putative cis-elements were identified for 24 soybean P-deficient responsive miRNAs. Interestingly, those miRNAs (54) not responding to P deficiency were also found to contain the same P-responsive motifs. A comparative analysis revealed that the frequency of the motif occurrence in the promoters of miRNA genes in response to P deficiency was higher than that of miRNA genes not responding to P deficiency. Our study provides initial evidence in soybean that a set of miRNAs with a high frequency of P-responsive cis-elements may coordinately regulate the plant response to P deficiency.
Zeng
Hou Qing
HQ
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Science, Nanjing Agricultural University, Tong Wen Road 1, Nanjing 210095, China.
Zhu
Yi Yong
YY
Huang
Si Qi
SQ
Yang
Zhi Min
ZM
D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013025:Glycine max / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D016385:TATA Box / Q000235:genetics; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site
D035683:MicroRNAs; D010758:Phosphorus