title: MicroRNAs and drought responses in sugarcane.
abstract: There is a growing demand for renewable energy, and sugarcane is a promising bioenergy crop. In Brazil, the largest sugarcane producer in the world, sugarcane plantations are expanding into areas where severe droughts are common. Recent evidence has highlighted the role of miRNAs in regulating drought responses in several species, including sugarcane. This review summarizes the data from miRNA expression profiles observed in a wide array of experimental conditions using different sugarcane cultivars that differ in their tolerance to drought. We uncovered a complex regulation of sugarcane miRNAs in response to drought and discussed these data with the miRNA profiles observed in other plant species. The predicted miRNA targets revealed different transcription factors, proteins involved in tolerance to oxidative stress, cell modification, as well as hormone signaling. Some of these proteins might regulate sugarcane responses to drought, such as reduction of internode growth and shoot branching and increased leaf senescence. A better understanding on the regulatory network from miRNAs and their targets under drought stress has a great potential to contribute to sugarcane improvement, either as molecular markers as well as by using biotechnological approaches.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genoma Funcional, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Agustina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genoma Funcional, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lara I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genoma Funcional, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Raphael S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Mattos
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genoma Funcional, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thaís H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genoma Funcional, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Menossi
keywords: cross-species comparisons; drought stress; drought tolerance; miRNAs; sugarcane; transcription factors