Identification of phasiRNAs and their drought- responsiveness in Populus trichocarpa.
Phased, secondary, small interfering RNA (phasiRNA) perform essential biological functions in plants. However, limited information is available on the role of phasiRNA genes in Populus (poplar), especially during drought stress. In this study, we identified 20 PHAS loci generating 91 phasiRNA in the genome of the model forest tree Populus trichocarpa (P. trichocarpa; western balsam-poplar) using the control and drought libraries. Our analysis indicated that six PHAS (PtPHA14-20) initiated by two Populus-specific miRNAs (miR6445 and miR6427) were specific to Populus. In addition, a total of 47 phasiRNA were found to be drought responsive, and five of them were confirmed by RT-qPCR. The phase cleavage of three PHAS loci by miRNA, and degradation of nine transcript targets by phasiRNA were experimentally confirmed based on degradome data. The identification of these Populus phasiRNA will contribute to a better understanding of their function and regulation during drought stress.
College of Biological Sciences and Technology, National Engineering Laboratory of Tree Breeding, Beijing Forestry University, China.|College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
Peng
P
Shuai
College of Biological Sciences and Technology, National Engineering Laboratory of Tree Breeding, Beijing Forestry University, China.
Yanyan
Y
Su
College of Biological Sciences and Technology, National Engineering Laboratory of Tree Breeding, Beijing Forestry University, China.
Dan
D
Liang
Gu Xian Middle School, Pingdu, Shandong Province, China.
Zhoujia
Z
Zhang
College of Biological Sciences and Technology, National Engineering Laboratory of Tree Breeding, Beijing Forestry University, China. xiaxl@bjfu.edu.cn.
Xinli
X
Xia
College of Biological Sciences and Technology, National Engineering Laboratory of Tree Breeding, Beijing Forestry University, China. yinwl@bjfu.edu.cn.
Weilun
W
Yin
D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D032107:Populus / Q000235:genetics*; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics*
D018749:RNA, Plant; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering
drought; microRNA; phased, secondary, small interfering RNA