MicroRNA-Mediated Responses to Cadmium Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Joseph L Pegler; Jackson M J Oultram; Duc Quan Nguyen; Christopher P L Grof; Andrew Eamens

doi:10.3390/plants10010130

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MicroRNA-Mediated Responses to Cadmium Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

MicroRNA-Mediated Responses to Cadmium Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Joseph L Pegler, Jackson M J Oultram, Duc Quan Nguyen, Christopher P L Grof and Andrew Eamens

Plants, Vol.10(1), pp.1-24

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10010130

PMID: 33435199

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Abstract

Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis)

cadmium (Cd) stress

microRNA (miRNA)

miRNA-directed gene expression regulation

double-stranded RNA binding (DRB) protein

RT-qPCR

In recent decades, the presence of cadmium (Cd) in the environment has increased significantly due to anthropogenic activities. Cd is taken up from the soil by plant roots for its subsequent translocation to shoots. However, Cd is a non-essential heavy metal and is therefore toxic to plants when it over-accumulates. MicroRNA (miRNA)-directed gene expression regulation is central to the response of a plant to Cd stress. Here, we document the miRNA-directed response of wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) plants and the drb1, drb2 and drb4 mutant lines to Cd stress. Phenotypic and physiological analyses revealed the drb1 mutant to display the highest degree of tolerance to the imposed stress while the drb2 mutant was the most sensitive. RT-qPCR-based molecular profiling of miRNA abundance and miRNA target gene expression revealed DRB1 to be the primary double-stranded RNA binding (DRB) protein required for the production of six of the seven Cd-responsive miRNAs analyzed. However, DRB2, and not DRB1, was determined to be required for miR396 production. RT-qPCR further inferred that transcript cleavage was the RNA silencing mechanism directed by each assessed miRNA to control miRNA target gene expression. Taken together, the results presented here reveal the complexity of the miRNA-directed molecular response of Arabidopsis to Cd stress.

Details

Title: MicroRNA-Mediated Responses to Cadmium Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Joseph L Pegler (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Jackson M J Oultram (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Duc Quan Nguyen (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Christopher P L Grof (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Andrew Eamens (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Publication details: Plants, Vol.10(1), pp.1-24
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.3390/plants10010130
ISSN: 2223-7747
PMID: 33435199
Copyright note: Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Biomedicine; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99656593402621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Plant Sciences

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