title: Expression of zma-miR169 miRNAs and their target ZmNF-YA genes in response to abiotic stress in maize leaves.
abstract: The miR169 miRNA family is highly conserved in plants. Its members regulate the expression of genes encoding the universal transcription factor subunit NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y subunit A (NF-YA) via transcript cleavage. NF-YA regulates gene expression by binding the CCAAT box sequence in target promoters. The miR169/NF-YA module plays a critical role during plant development and in plant responses to abiotic stress. We characterized the secondary structures of maize pre-miR169 miRNAs and predicted their potential gene targets. Coexpression of zma-miR169 and ZmNF-YA in Nicotiana benthamiana demonstrated that mutations in or deletion of target sites abolished regulation by zma-miR169. Maize seedlings were subjected to short-term (0-48h) and long-term (15days) drought, abscisic acid (ABA), or salt stress. Long-term exposure to PEG (drought stress) or NaCl (salt stress) repressed seedling growth. We investigated the expression patterns of zma-miR169s and their target ZmNF-YA genes in maize leaves and found diverse changes in expression in response to the three stress treatments. The expression of most zma-miR169 genes was downregulated by PEG and upregulated by ABA. In response to salt stress, zma-miR169 genes were upregulated initially and subsequently downregulated. Most ZmNF-YA genes were upregulated during the short term and downregulated by 15days in response to the three stress treatments.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute/The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: luanmingda@126.com.
authors.forename: Mingda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute/The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: xumiaoyun@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Miaoyun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Nongke Group Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: luyunming@263.net.
authors.forename: Yunming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute/The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhanglan01@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute/The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: fanyunliu@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Yunliu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute/The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: wanglei01@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D036226:Seedlings / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014026:Nicotiana; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; D035683:MicroRNAs; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Abiotic stress; Expression pattern; Maize leaves; Transient expression; ZmNF-YA; Zma-miR169