title: In silico search and biological validation of microRNAs related to drought response in peach and almond.
abstract: Plant responses to drought stress are regulated at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels through noncoding endogenous microRNAs. These microRNAs play key roles in gene expression, mainly by down-regulating target mRNAs. In this work, an in silico search and validation for microRNAs related to drought response in peach ('G.H. Hill'), almond ('Sefied') and an interspecific peach-almond hybrid ('GN 15') has been performed. We used qPCR to analyse the gene expression of several miRNAs described as being related to drought response in peach, including miR156, miR159, miR160, miR167, miR171, miR172, miR398, miR403, miR408, miR842 and miR2275 under mild and severe water deficit. These miRNAs were in silico selected on the basis of previous works, their conservation in plants and their drought response. qPCR analysis confirmed the implication of these miRNAs in the dehydration stress response in the three assayed genotypes. Comparison of miRNA expression patterns in the three evaluated genotypes indicated that the hybrid GN 15 showed higher expression levels of specific miRNAs which should be related to the observed drought tolerance. mRNA target transcripts of the miRNAs studied were predicted using the Rose database, which includes transcription factors that regulate plant growth and development. In addition, results showed that the promoter region contains responsive elements to hormone-mediated regulatory elements. Network analysis not only unravelled the interaction between miRNAs and their predicted gene targets but also highlighted the roles of miRNAs in response to drought stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Box 115, Shahrekord, Iran.
authors.forename: Fazileh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Esmaeili
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Box 115, Shahrekord, Iran. shiran@agr.sku.ac.ir.|Institute of Biotechnology, Shahrekord University, Box 115, Shahrekord, Iran. shiran@agr.sku.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Behrouz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shiran
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fallahi
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Box 115, Shahrekord, Iran.
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mirakhorli
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Science and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
authors.forename: Hikmet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budak
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding, CEBAS-CSIC, Espinardo, Box 164, Murcia, 30100, Spain. pmartinez@cebas.csic.es.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martínez-Gómez
mesh_terms: D055864:Droughts; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D000068181:Prunus dulcis / Q000235:genetics*; D000068239:Prunus persica / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Drought stress; MicroRNA; Molecular breeding; Prunus; Target transcript