title: Identification and characterization of microRNAs in the developing maize endosperm.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that are approximately 20-22 nucleotides long. miRNAs have been shown to be important regulators that control a large variety of biological functions in eukaryotic cells. To investigate the roles of miRNAs in maize endosperm development, two small RNA libraries of maize endosperm at two developmental stages were sequenced. A total of 17,773,394 and 18,586,523 small RNA raw reads were obtained, respectively. Further analysis identified and characterized 95 known miRNAs belonging to 20 miRNA families. In addition, 18 novel miRNAs were identified and grouped into 11 families. Potential targets for 5 of the novel miRNA families were successfully predicted. We had also identified 12 corresponding miRNAs* of these novel miRNAs. In summary, we investigated expression patterns of miRNA in maize endosperm at key developmental stages and identified miRNAs that are likely to playing an important role in endosperm development.
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, China.
authors.forename: Yinghong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Sichuan Agricultural Universities, Ya'an, Sichuan 625014, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Sichuan Agricultural Universities, Ya'an, Sichuan 625014, China.
authors.forename: Hanmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengd u, Sichuan 611130, China.
authors.forename: Yufeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, China.
authors.forename: Yangping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, China. Electronic address: yubihuang@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Yubi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D056625:Endosperm / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D015723:Gene Library; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D018749:RNA, Plant
keywords: Endosperm; Identification; Maize; Sequencing; miRNA