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Salt and Drought Stresses Induce the Aberrant Expression of microRNA Genes in Tobacco

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Abstract

Drought and salinity stresses significantly altered microRNA (miRNA) expression in a dose-dependent manner in tobacco. Salinity stress changed the miRNA expression levels from a 6.86-fold down-regulation to a 616.57-fold up-regulation. Alternatively, miRNAs were down-regulated by 2.68-fold and up-regulated 2810-fold under drought conditions. miR395 was most sensitive to both stresses and was up-regulated by 616 and 2810-folds by 1.00% PEG and 0.171 M NaCl, respectively. Salinity and drought stresses also changed the expression of protein-coding genes [alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and alcohol peroxidase (APX)]. The results suggest that miRNAs may play an important role in plant response to environmental abiotic stresses. Further investigation of miRNA-mediated gene regulation may elucidate the molecular mechanism of plant tolerance to abiotic stresses and has the potential to create a miRNA-based biotechnology for improving plant tolerance to drought and salinity stresses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Taylor P. Frazier, Guiling Sun, Caitlin E. Burklew & Baohong Zhang

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  1. Taylor P. Frazier
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  2. Guiling Sun
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  3. Caitlin E. Burklew
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  4. Baohong Zhang
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Correspondence to Baohong Zhang.

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Frazier, T.P., Sun, G., Burklew, C.E. et al. Salt and Drought Stresses Induce the Aberrant Expression of microRNA Genes in Tobacco. Mol Biotechnol 49, 159–165 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-011-9387-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-011-9387-5

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