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miRNA expression during prickly pear cactus fruit development

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Abstract

miRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. They are involved in the control of many developmental processes, including fruit development. The increasing amount of information on miRNAs, on their expression, abundance, and conservation between various species, provides a new opportunity to study the role of miRNAs in non-model plant species. In this work, we used a combination of Northern blot and tissue print hybridization analysis to identify conserved miRNAs expressed during prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus indica) fruit development. Comparative profiling detected the expression of 34 miRNAs, which were clustered in three different groups that were associated with the different phases of fruit development. Variation in the level of miRNA expression was observed. Gradual expression increase of several miRNAs was observed during fruit development, including miR164. miR164 was selected for stem-loop RT-PCR and for a detailed spatial–temporal expression analysis. At early floral stages, miR164 was mainly localized in meristematic tissues, boundaries and fusion zones, while it was more homogenously expressed in fruit tissues. Our results provide the first evidence of miRNA expression in the prickly pear cactus and provide the basis for future research on miRNAs in Opuntia. Moreover, our analyses suggest that miR164 plays different roles during prickly pear cactus fruit development.

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Abbreviations

sRNA:

Small RNA

miRNA:

microRNA

LMW:

Low molecular weight

HMW:

High molecular weight

EDC:

1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Candelario Mondragón-Jacobo at INIFAP Norte de Guanajuato for providing cactus material. We also thank the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) for a Ph.D. fellowship to FFRC (199450). This work in the de Folter laboratory was financed by the CONACyT Grants 82826 and 177739, and in the Cruz-Hernández lab by the CONACyT Grant 134953.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Author notes

  1. Flor de Fátima Rosas-Cárdenas

    Present address: Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Aplicada del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CIBA-IPN), Ex-Hacienda San Juan Molino, Carretera Estatal Tecuexcomac-Tepetitla Km 1.5, CP 90700, Tlaxcala, Mexico

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (LANGEBIO), Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Km. 9.6 Libramiento Norte, Carretera Irapuato-León, CP 36821, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Flor de Fátima Rosas-Cárdenas & Stefan de Folter

  2. Unidad de Microbiología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Campus Aeropuerto, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, CP 76140, Santiago De Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico

    Juan Caballero-Pérez, Ximena Gutiérrez-Ramos & Andrés Cruz-Hernández

  3. Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioquímica, CINVESTAV-IPN, Km. 9.6 Libramiento Norte, Carretera Irapuato-León, CP 36821, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Nayelli Marsch-Martínez

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  1. Flor de Fátima Rosas-Cárdenas
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Correspondence to Stefan de Folter.

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Rosas-Cárdenas, F.d.F., Caballero-Pérez, J., Gutiérrez-Ramos, X. et al. miRNA expression during prickly pear cactus fruit development. Planta 241, 435–448 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2193-0

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