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Identification and validation of drought-responsive microRNAs from Hevea brasiliensis

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Abstract

Drought, in combination with high temperature and low humidity affects the productivity of Hevea brasiliensis, the natural rubber tree and its expansion to non-traditional regions. The genotypes of H. brasiliensis that perform well in traditional regions often failed in non-traditional regions thus necessitating breeding for stress-tolerant genotypes. This can be accomplished by adopting molecular-assisted selection method. Recent developments in identification of drought-responsive transcripts from H. brasiliensis and the findings on role of small RNAs indicate the possibility of employing them as markers for identification of suitable genotypes. In this study, we attempted to identify drought-responsive miRNAs from H. brasiliensis through next-generation sequencing (Illumina HiSeq) method. The results revealed the expression of 33 conserved and 32 novel drought-responsive miRNAs. Further, validation of differentially expressed miRNAs by quantitative expression analysis indicated the association of two novel miRNAs, viz., HbmiRn_63 and HbmiRn_42 and two conserved miRNAs, viz., miR168 and miR160 miRNAs with drought tolerance. These miRNAs can be employed as markers for drought tolerance after validation in a larger set of genotypes. This study opens up the possibility of employing miRNAs as markers for drought tolerance in Hevea.

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Abbreviations

ARF:

Auxin response factors

HMGR:

HMG-CoA reductase

MFE:

Minimal folding free energy

miRNA:

MicroRNA

qPCR:

Quantitative PCR

RRII:

Rubber Research Institute of India

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. K. Annamalainathan (Joint Director, RRII), Dr. Kavitha K. Mydin (Joint Director, RRII) and Dr. James Jacob (Director of Research, RRII) for their constant support and encouragement throughout the course of the work. Authors also wish to thank Dr. Shammi Raj (Principal Scientist, meteorology) and Dr. K.V Sumesh (Scientist, Plant Physiology) for their help in data analysis and Ms. Smitha M Xavier (Research Scholar) for providing germplasm materials. The authors also thank Dr. Deepthy Antony (Senior Scientist, Plant Breeding) for critical reading and correcting the manuscript. Ms. Linu Kuruvilla is grateful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi for the Senior Research Fellowship.

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  1. Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam, 686 009, India

    Linu Kuruvilla, Mohamed Sathik, Lisha P. Luke & Molly Thomas

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  1. Linu Kuruvilla
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Correspondence to Mohamed Sathik.

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Kuruvilla, L., Sathik, M., Luke, L.P. et al. Identification and validation of drought-responsive microRNAs from Hevea brasiliensis. Acta Physiol Plant 41, 14 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-018-2803-8

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