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Target of tae-miR408, a chemocyanin-like protein gene (TaCLP1), plays positive roles in wheat response to high-salinity, heavy cupric stress and stripe rust

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Abstract

microRNAs (miRNAs) are novel and significant regulators of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, and they are essential for normal growth and development and adaptation to stress conditions. As miRNAs are a kind of RNAs that do not code proteins, they play roles by repressing gene translation or degrading the corresponding target mRNAs. Plantacyanin-like (basic blue) proteins have been predicted and verified as the target gene of miR408 in wheat and Arabidopsis, respectively. Besides some biochemical characteristics, their detailed biological function remains unknown. In this study, the target gene of a wheat miRNA (tae-miR408), designated TaCLP1, was identified using degradome sequencing and co-transformation technology in tobacco leaves. We isolated the full-length cDNA clone, and defined its product as a chemocyanin-like protein, a kind of plantacyanin. Transcript accumulation of TaCLP1 and tae-miR408 showed contrasting divergent expression patterns in wheat response to Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) and high copper ion stress. Overexpression of TaCLP1 in yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) significantly increased cell growth under high salinity and Cu2+ stresses. Silencing of individual cDNA clones in wheat challenged with Pst indicated that TaCLP1 positively regulates resistance to stripe rust. The results indicate that the target of tae-miR408, TaCLP1, play an important role in regulating resistance of host plants to abiotic stresses and stripe rust, and such interactions can be a valuable resource for investigating stress tolerance in wheat.

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Abbreviations

BCP:

Blue copper protein

CYR:

Chinese yellow rust

dsRNA:

Double-strand RNA

hpi/t:

Hours post inoculation/treatment

HR:

Hypersensitive reaction

miRNAs:

microRNAs

pri-miRNA:

Primary miRNA transcripts

Pst :

Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici

qRT-PCR:

Quantitative real time PCR

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcription PCR

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported through grants from The National Basic Research Program (2013CB127700), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30930064 and No. 31071651) and the 111 Project from the Ministry of Education of China (B07049).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas and College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    Hao Feng, Xiaojie Wang, Lili Huang & Zhensheng Kang

  2. College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    Qiong Zhang, Qiuling Wang, Jia Liu & Man Li

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  1. Hao Feng
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Correspondence to Zhensheng Kang.

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Feng, H., Zhang, Q., Wang, Q. et al. Target of tae-miR408, a chemocyanin-like protein gene (TaCLP1), plays positive roles in wheat response to high-salinity, heavy cupric stress and stripe rust. Plant Mol Biol 83, 433–443 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-013-0101-9

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