570 / 2019-04-02 12:51:43

Cis-natural Antisense Transcripts Attenuate Plant Thermotolerance

Arabidopsis; Brassica; miRNA; Natural antisense transcripts; Gene silencing;Thermotolerance

全体主题 > RNA Biology

Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) control many biological processes and have been broadly applied for genetic manipulation of eukaryotic gene expression. However, their molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, we identified two subsets of cis-NATs of MIRNA genes in Brassica rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana by genome-wide analysis of RNA sequencing data. MIR398b/c genes were coexpressed in vascular tissues with their antisense genes, respectively. The antisense transcripts formed double-stranded RNA with sense transcripts in vivo and produced nat-siRNAs. Furthermore, overexpression of NAT398b/c attenuated plant thermotolerance. Taken together, these results suggested that NAT398b/c affected plant thermotolerance. Our finding provides the insight into the function of MIRNA genes and their natural antisense transcripts in plant thermotolerance and thus was useful for genetic manipulation and crop improvement in plants.