title: Uncovering miRNAs involved in crosstalk between nutrient deficiencies in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Integrating carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S) metabolism is essential for the growth and development of living organisms. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in regulating nutrient metabolism in plants. However, how plant miRNAs mediate crosstalk between different nutrient metabolic pathways is unclear. In this study, deep sequencing of Arabidopsis thaliana small RNAs was used to reveal miRNAs that were differentially expressed in response to C, N, or S deficiency. Comparative analysis revealed that the targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs are involved in different cellular responses and metabolic processes, including transcriptional regulation, auxin signal transduction, nutrient homeostasis, and regulation of development. C, N, and S deficiency specifically induced miR169b/c, miR826 and miR395, respectively. In contrast, miR167, miR172, miR397, miR398, miR399, miR408, miR775, miR827, miR841, miR857, and miR2111 are commonly suppressed by C, N, and S deficiency. In particular, the miRNAs that are induced specifically by a certain nutrient deficiency are often suppressed by other nutrient deficiencies. Further investigation indicated that the modulation of nutrient-responsive miRNA abundance affects the adaptation of plants to nutrient starvation conditions. This study revealed that miRNAs function as important regulatory nodes of different nutrient metabolic pathways.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: 1] Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China [2] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China.
authors.forename: Diqiu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D002244:Carbon / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013455:Sulfur / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D013455:Sulfur; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen