title: Carotenoid profiling, in silico analysis and transcript profiling of miRNAs targeting carotenoid biosynthetic pathway genes in different developmental tissues of tomato.
abstract: Carotenoid biosynthetic pathway is one of the highly significant and very well elucidated secondary metabolic pathways in plants. microRNAs are the potential regulators, widely known for playing a pivotal role in the regulation of various biological as well as metabolic processes. miRNAs may assist in the metabolic engineering of the secondary metabolites for the production of elite genotypes with increased biomass and content of various metabolites. miRNA mediated regulation of carotenoid biosynthetic genes has not been elucidated so far. To illustrate the potential regulatory role of miRNAs in carotenoid biosynthesis, transcript profiling of the known miRNAs and their possible target carotenoid genes was undertaken at eight different developmental stages of tomato, using stem-loop PCR approach combined with quantitative RT-PCR. The inter-relationship amongst carotenoid content, biosynthetic genes and miRNAs was studied in depth. Comparative expression profiles of miRNA and target genes showed variable expression in different tissues studied. The expression level of miRNAs and their target carotenoid genes displayed similar pattern in the vegetative tissues as compared to the reproductive ones, viz. fruit (different stages), indicating the possibility of regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis at various stages of fruit development. This was later confirmed by the HPLC analysis of the carotenoids. The present study has further enhanced the understanding of regulation of carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in plants. The identified miRNAs can be employed to manipulate the biosynthesis of different carotenoids, through metabolic engineering for the production of lycopene rich tomatoes.
authors.affiliation: Genome Research Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, 180006, India.
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koul
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Delhi (South Campus), New Delhi, 110021, India.
authors.forename: Sneha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yogindran
authors.affiliation: Genome Research Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, 180006, India.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Genome Research Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, 180006, India.
authors.forename: Sanjana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Delhi (South Campus), New Delhi, 110021, India.
authors.forename: Manchikatla Venkat
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Rajam
authors.affiliation: Genome Research Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, 180006, India. Electronic address: manojkdhar@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Manoj K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Dhar
mesh_terms: D002338:Carotenoids / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003198:Computer Simulation; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D000077276:Lycopene; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D019207:beta Carotene; D002338:Carotenoids; D000077276:Lycopene
keywords: Carotenoid; MicroRNA; RT-PCR; Regulation; Tomato; Transcription factors