Journal
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
Volume 65, Issue 29, Pages 5860-5867Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b01164
Keywords
cadmium; miR268; NRAMP; rice; transgenic plants
Funding
- Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China [LR17C130001, LZ14C020001, Y15C020003]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31401299, 31470368, 31401356]
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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 21-24-nucleotide-long RNAs that function as ubiquitous post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression in plants and animals. Increasing evidence points to the important role of miRNAs in plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Cadmium (Cd) is a nonessential heavy metal highly toxic to plants. Although many genes encoding metal transporters have been characterized, the mechanisms for the regulation of the expression of the heavy-metal transporter genes are largely unknown. In this study, we found that the expression of miR268 in rice was significantly induced under Cd stress. By contrast, expression of natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 3 (NRAMP3), a target gene of miR268, was dramatically decreased by Cd treatment. Overexpression of miR268 inhibited rice seedling growth under Cd stress. The transgenic miR268-overexpressing plant leaves contained increased levels of hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde, and their seedlings accumulated increased levels of Cd when compared to those in wild-type plants. These results indicate that miR268 acts as a negative regulator of rice's tolerance to Cd stress. Thus, miRNA-guided regulation of gene expression plays an important role in plant responses to heavy-metal stress.
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