Identification of Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.) MicroRNAs Using RNA-Seq and Their Putative Roles in High Salinity Responses in Seedlings.

ABSTRACT: The halophyte Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (common or crystalline ice plant) is a useful model for studying molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance. The morphology, physiology, metabolism, and gene expression of ice plant have been studied and large-scale analyses of gene expression profiling have drawn an outline of salt tolerance in ice plant. A rapid root growth to a sudden increase in salinity was observed in ice plant seedlings. Using a fluorescent dye to detect Na(+), we found that ice plant roots respond to an increased flux of Na(+) by either secreting or storing Na(+) in specialized cells. High-throughput sequencing was used to identify small RNA profiles in 3-day-old seedlings treated with or without 200 mM NaCl. In total, 135 conserved miRNAs belonging to 21 families were found.

SUBMITTER: Chiang CP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4977306 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature