Arabidopsis thaliana microRNA162 level is posttranscriptionally regulated via splicing and polyadenylation site selection.

Maria Barciszewska-Pacak; Katarzyna Knop; Artur Jarmołowski; Zofia Szweykowska-Kulińska

doi:10.18388/abp.2016_1349

Maria Barciszewska-Pacak Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland
Katarzyna Knop Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland
Artur Jarmołowski Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland
Zofia Szweykowska-Kulińska Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18388/abp.2016_1349

Keywords: miRNA, pri-miRNA, abiotic stress, gene expression

Abstract

Arabidopsis microRNA162 level regulation was studied under abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity. The TaqMan® microRNA assay proved that A. thaliana miRNA162 level was elevated under these stresses confirming its salt and drought responsiveness. Consistently, the MIR162a and MIR162b gene promoter region analyses identified numerous salinity and drought responsive elements. However, our analyses show that generally MIR162b is rather weakly expressed, both in control and stress conditions. On the other site the stress-dependent regulation of the pri-miRNA162a alternative splicing pattern revealed the increase of functional pri-miR162a isoform and preferential distal polyA site selection in stress conditions. Apart from the potential transcriptional regulation of the miRNA genes (MIRs) expression the data obtained point to an essential role of posttranscriptional regulation of the microRNA162 level.

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