Authors: Qiulei Lang ChunZhi Jin Leiyu Lai Junli Feng Shaoning Chen Jishuang Chen
Publish Date: 2010/09/19
Volume: 38, Issue: 3, Pages: 1523-1531
Abstract
MicroRNAs miRNAs are a newly identified class of noncoding small RNAs of about 21–24 nucleotides They play important roles in multiple biological processes by degrading targeted mRNAs or repressing mRNA translation To date a total of 2043 plant miRNAs are present in the miRNA Registry database miRBase Release 140 and none for tobacco Nicotiana tabacum In this research we used known plant miRNAs against both genomic survey sequence GSS and expressed sequence tags EST databases to search for potential miRNAs in tobacco A total of 25 potential miRNAs were identified following a range of strict filtering criteria and 33 potential targets of miRNAs were predicted by searching the tobacco Unigene database Most of these miRNA targeting genes were predicted to encode transcription factors which play important roles in tobacco development Additionally realtime PCR assays were performed to profile the expression levels of 10 miRNAs after the infection of Cucumber mosaic virus CMV and Potato virus X PVX The results showed that symptom severity is correlated to the miRNA accumulation and increased miR168 expression during virus infection is a common plant and virusindependent response
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