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Overexpression of Arabidopsis miR157b induces bushy architecture and delayed phase transition in Torenia fournieri

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Abstract

miR156/157 is a small RNA molecule that is highly conserved among various plant species. Overexpression of miR156/157 has been reported to induce bushy architecture and delayed phase transition in several plant species. To investigate the effect of miR157 overexpression in a horticultural plant, and to explore the applicability of miRNA to molecular breeding, we introduced Arabidopsis MIR157b (AtMIR157b) into torenia (Torenia fournieri). The resulting 35S:AtMIR157b plants showed a high degree of branching along with small leaves, which resembled miR156/157-overexpressing plants of other species. We also isolated torenia SBP-box genes with target miR156/157 sequences and confirmed that their expression was selectively downregulated in 35S:AtMIR157b plants. The reduced accumulation of mRNA was probably due to sequence specificity. Moreover, expression of torenia homologs of the SBP-box protein-regulated genes TfLFY and TfMIR172 was also reduced by AtmiR157 overexpression. These findings suggest that the molecular mechanisms of miR156/157 regulation are conserved between Arabidopsis and torenia. The bushy architecture and small leaves of 35S:AtMIR157b torenia plants could be applied in molecular breeding of various horticultural plants as well as for increasing biomass and crop production.

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Abbreviations

AtMIR157b :

Arabidopsis thaliana MIR157b

miRNA:

microRNA

SBP:

SQUAMOSA-promoter binding protein

SPL:

SQUAMOSA-promoter binding protein-like

UTR:

Untranslated region

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Masaru Ohme-Takagi (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) for his support and helpful comments. We also thank Ms. Satoko Ohtawa, Ms. Yoshiko Kashiwagi, and Ms. Yasuko Taniji for their skilled technical assistance.

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  1. Masahito Shikata

    Present address: Division of Plant Sciences, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8602, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Floricultural Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8519, Japan

    Masahito Shikata, Hiroyasu Yamaguchi, Katsutomo Sasaki & Norihiro Ohtsubo

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  1. Masahito Shikata
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  2. Hiroyasu Yamaguchi
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  3. Katsutomo Sasaki
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  4. Norihiro Ohtsubo
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Correspondence to Norihiro Ohtsubo.

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Shikata, M., Yamaguchi, H., Sasaki, K. et al. Overexpression of Arabidopsis miR157b induces bushy architecture and delayed phase transition in Torenia fournieri . Planta 236, 1027–1035 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-012-1649-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-012-1649-3

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