MicroRNAs Are Involved in Maize Immunity Against Fusarium verticillioides Ear Rot
- Author:
Zhou ZIJIAN
1
;
Cao YAN
;
Li TAO
;
Wang XINGHAO
;
Chen JIAFA
;
He HANG
;
Yao WEN
;
Wu JIANYU
;
Zhang HUIYONG
Author Information
1. State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science,Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops,College of Agronomy,Henan Agricultural University,Zhengzhou 450002,China
- Keywords:
Maize;
MicroRNA;
Fusarium ear rot;
Deep sequencing;
Disease resistance
- From:
Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics
2020;18(3):241-255
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Fusarium ear rot (FER) caused by Fusarium verticillioides is one of the most common dis-eases affecting maize production worldwide. FER results in severe yield losses and grain contami-nation with health-threatening mycotoxins. Although most studies to date have focused on comprehensive analysis of gene regulation in maize during defense responses against F. verticil-lioides infection, less is known about the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in this process. We used deep sequencing to compare small RNA libraries from the maize kernels of susceptible (N6) or resistant (BT-1) inbred lines from uninfected plants and upon F. verticillioides infection. We found that pathogen exposure was accompanied by dynamic alterations in expression levels of multiple miRNAs, including new members of previously annotated miRNA families. A combination of tran-scriptomic, degradomic, and bioinformatics analyses revealed that F. verticillioides-responsive miRNAs and their potential target genes displayed opposite expression patterns in the susceptible and resistant genotypes. Functional category analysis uncovered preferential enrichment of the pathogen-responsive miRNAs and their targets in the phenylpropanoid metabolic processes, plant-pathogen interactions, and plant phytohormone signal transduction pathways. Furthermore, transgenic maize plants overexpressing miR408b exhibited reduced resistance to F. verticillioides infection in a susceptible maize line. These findings provide new insights into the regulatory roles of miRNAs in maize immunity against FER and new resources for breeding disease resistance into maize.
