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Host Response of Arabidopsis thaliana Interaction with Fungal Endophytes Involves microRNAs

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Abstract

Plant and fungus interaction is a complex process involving many molecular factors determining the nature of relationship. The enigmatic methodology by which fungal endophytes are able to colonise a plant harmoniously is still inexplicable. Small RNAs have been identified as major regulatory elements under various biotic interactions. However, their role in endophytic plant–fungal interactions remain to be elucidated. Therefore, transcript expression data available on Gene Expression Omnibus for Arabidopsis thaliana was utilised for miRNAs identification under endophytism. The analysis predicted 15 miRNAs with differential expression of which the ath-miRNA398b modulation was significant. Application of psRNAtarget, C-mii, pmiREN, and TarDB provided a pool of 357 target genes for these miRNAs. Protein–protein interaction analysis identified major hub proteins, including BTB/POZ domain-containing protein, beta-Xylosidase-2 (AtBXL2), and Copper/Zinc Superoxide Dismutase-2 (AtSOD2). The quantitative real-time PCR validated the computational prediction and expression for selected target genes AtSOD2, AtBXL2, and AtRCA along with ath-miRNA398b under endophytism. Overall, results indicate that miRNAs have a significant role in regulating Arabidopsis thaliana–endophytic fungal interaction.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

PY is thankful to UGC, India for fellowship. Authors are thankful to Guo Zhonglong, Nanjing Forestry University to provide the pmiREN targets from his server.

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  1. Anand Mishra and Pooja Yadav have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Post Box No. 06, Palampur, 176061, India

    Anand Mishra, Pooja Yadav & Kunal Singh

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Pooja Yadav & Kunal Singh

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  1. Anand Mishra
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KS and AM designed and conceptualized the work. PY and AM executed the experiments. AM, PY, and KS analysed the data and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kunal Singh.

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Mishra, A., Yadav, P. & Singh, K. Host Response of Arabidopsis thaliana Interaction with Fungal Endophytes Involves microRNAs. Mol Biotechnol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-024-01051-7

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