Differentially expressed microRNA cohorts in seed development may contribute to poor grain filling of inferior spikelets in rice

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Guiliang Tang¹  Junzhou Li²  Yafan Zhao²  Hongzheng Sun²  Yanxiu Du²  Quanzhi Zhao²  Ting Peng²  Jing Zhang²  Mengmeng Qiao³ 

[1] Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops, Henan Agricultural University, 450002, Zhengzhou, China;Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 49931, Houghton, Michigan, USA;Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops, Henan Agricultural University, 450002, Zhengzhou, China;Research Center for Rice Engineering in Henan Province, Henan Agricultural University, 450002, Zhengzhou, China;Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 49931, Houghton, Michigan, USA;

关键词: Rice (Oryza sativa);    microRNA;    Differential expression;    miRNA dynamics;    Inferior spikelets;    Superior spikelets;    Grain filling;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-014-0196-4

 received in 2014-02-21, accepted in 2014-07-14,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe inferior spikelets are defined to be those at portions where the grains receive less photosynthetic products during the seed development. The typical inferior spikelets are physically located on the proximal secondary branches in a rice panicle and traditionally characterized by a later flowering time and a slower grain-filling rate, compared to those so-called superior spikelets. Grains produced on the inferior spikelets are consequently under-developed and lighter in weight than those formed on the superior spikelets. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recognized as key players in regulating plant development through post-transcriptional gene regulations. We previously presented the evidence that miRNAs may influence grain-filling rate and played a role in determining the grain weight and yield in rice.ResultsIn this study, further analyses of the expressed small RNAs in superior and inferior spikelets were conducted at five distinct developmental stages of grain development. Totally, 457 known miRNAs and 13 novel miRNAs were analyzed, showing a differential expression of 141 known miRNAs between superior and inferior spikelets with higher expression levels of most miRNAs associated with the superior than the inferior spikelets during the early stage of grain filling. Genes targeted by those differentially expressed miRNAs (i.e. miR156, miR164, miR167, miR397, miR1861, and miR1867) were recognized to play roles in multiple developmental and signaling pathways related to plant hormone homeostasis and starch accumulation.ConclusionsOur data established a complicated link between miRNA dynamics and the traditional role of hormones in grain filling and development, providing new insights into the widely accepted concepts of the so-called superior and inferior spikelets in rice production.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Peng et al. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.