title: Identification and characterization of salt-responsive microRNAs in Populus tomentosa by high-throughput sequencing.
abstract: Salt is one of the main environmental factors limiting plant growth and a better understanding of mechanisms of salt stress would aid efforts to bolster plant salt tolerance. MicroRNAs are well known for their important regulatory roles in response to abiotic stress in plants. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was employed to identify miRNAs in Populus tomentosa plantlets treated or not with salt (200 mM for 10 h). We found 141 conserved miRNAs belonging to 31 families, 29 non-conserved but previously-known miRNAs belonging to 26 families, and 17 novel miRNAs. Under salt stress, 19 miRNAs belonging to seven conserved miRNA families were significantly downregulated, and two miRNAs belonging to two conserved miRNA families were upregulated. Of seven non-conserved miRNAs with significantly altered expression, five were downregulated and two were upregulated. Furthermore, eight miRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR and their dynamic differential expressions were analyzed. In addition, 269 target genes of identified miRNAs were predicted and categorized by function. These results provide new insights into salt-responsive miRNAs in Populus.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, 100083 Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yiyun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiangyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Zhiyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D032107:Populus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012492:Salts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012492:Salts