ABSTRACT: Stress acclimation is an effective mechanism that plants acquired for adaption to dynamic environmental conditions. After undergoing cold acclimation, plants become more tolerant to cold stress. In order to understand the mechanism of cold acclimation, we performed a systematic, comprehensive study of cold response and acclimation in Cassava (Manihot esculenta), a staple crop and major food source in the tropical regions of the world. We profiled mRNA genes and small-RNA species, using next generation sequencing, and performed an integrative analysis of the transcriptome and microRNAome of Cassava across the normal condition, a moderate cold stress at 14M-BM-0C, a harsh stress at 4M-BM-0C after cold acclimation at 14M-BM-0C, and a cold shock from 24M-BM-0C to 4M-BM-0C. Two results from the analysis were striking. First, the moderate stress and cold shock, despite a difference of 10M-BM-0C between the two, triggered comparable degrees of perturbation to the transcriptome; in contrary, further harsh stress after cold acclimation resulted in a much smaller degree of transcriptome variation. Second and more importantly, about two thirds of the up- or down-regulated genes after moderate stress reversed their expression to down- or up-regulation, respectively, under harsh stress after cold acclimation, resulting in a genome-wide rewiring of regulatory networks. MicroRNAs, which are key post-transcriptional gene regulators, were major players in this massive rewiring of genetic circuitry. Further, a function enrichment analysis of the perturbed genes revealed that cold acclimation helped the plant to develop immunity to further harsh stress by exclusively inducing genes with functions of nutrient reservoir; in contrast, many genes with functions of viral reproduction were induced by cold shock. Our study revealed, for the first time, the molecular basis of stress acclimation in plants, and shed lights on the role of microRNA gene regulation in cold response and acclimation in Euphorbia. Three organs/tissues (folded leaf, fully expanded leaf and roots) of Cassava cultivar SC124 harvested at 6h, 24h and 5d for three cold treatments of CA, CCA and CS, for gene expression profiling at the stages of initial response, secondary response, and functional adaption to cold stresses. Total RNA of each sample was isolated individually, and then pooled with an equal amount from each sample into one for profiling. As a result, four mRNA libraries and four small-RNA libraries, corresponding to the conditions of CA, CCA, CS and NC, were constructed.
