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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Aberdeen, Idaho » Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344138
Title: Genome-wide analysis of the SPL/miR156 module and its interaction with the AP2/miR172 unit in barley

Author
item TRIPATHI, RAJIV - McGill University - Canada
item SINGH, JASWINDER - McGill University - Canada
item Bregitzer, Paul

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/11/2018
Publication Date: 5/4/2018
Citation: Tripathi, R.K., Singh, J., Bregitzer, P.P. 2018. Genome-wide analysis of the SPL/miR156 module and its interaction with the AP2/miR172 unit in barley. Scientific Reports. 8:7085. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25349-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25349-0

Interpretive Summary: The process of flowering is an essential component of plant reproduction, and in crops like barley, responsible for the development of the value of the crop via the production of grain (seeds). This complex process is controlled by many genes that must be expressed in a specific pattern. Several of these genes act as “master controls” in that they coordinate the expression of multiple genes. One of these is called the SUAMOSA-promoter binding like (SPL) gene, and it affects the expression of several genes, including one that encodes a microRNA, called miR172, which in turn regulates several other genes. The functions of SPL and miR172 are critical to grain development in barley as well as other crops. This study identified multiple members of each gene in barley, and studied the patterns of expression of these genes during floral development. The results provided information on which of the genes were most likely to be most important for proper floral development, a better understanding of barley flowering as compared to the flowering of other crops, and will be useful in future studies that will examine flowering in barley in greater detail.

Technical Abstract: The SQUAMOSA-promoter binding like (SPL) gene family encodes transcription factors shown in a number of species to influence plant growth and development, but information about these genes in barley is limited. This study identified 13 barley SPL genes, within five distinct groups, that are orthologs to SPL genes described in Arabidopsis, wheat and rice. Nine of the thirteen barley SPLs undergo alternative splicing. Four contain a putative miR156 target site in a coding region, and one has the target site in the 3' UTR. Tissue specific differential expression patterns were observed for miR156-targeted SPLs as compared to non-targeted. Transcript level of miR156 targeted HvSPL 3, 13 and 23 was lower in juvenile than in adult phases. Because SPL gene products regulate miR172, which is involved also with floral development, the expression of miR172 was studied. An antagonistic expression pattern of miR156 and miR172 during the juvenile and the adult phases was observed. Characterization of a barley mir172 mutant having indeterminate abnormal spikelet phenotype suggests the involvement of HvSPL 3, 13, 15 and 23 genes in the regulation of spike architecture. This study provides a basis to elucidate miR156/SPL/miR172 module in barley and their roles in various biological processes.