Constitutive Expression of miR408 Improves Biomass and Seed Yield in Arabidopsis.

ABSTRACT: miR408 is highly conserved among different plant species and targets transcripts encoding copper-binding proteins. The function of miR408 in reproductive development remains largely unclear despite it being known to play important roles during vegetative development in Arabidopsis. Here, we show that transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing MIR408 have altered morphology including significantly increased leaf area, petiole length, plant height, flower size, and silique length, resulting in enhanced biomass and seed yield. The increase in plant size was primarily due to cell expansion rather than cell proliferation, and was consistent with higher levels of myosin gene expression and gibberellic acid (GA) measured in transgenic plants. In addition, photosynthetic rate was significantly i

SUBMITTER: Song Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5789609 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature