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Changes in endogenous phytohormones regulated by microRNA-target mRNAs contribute to the development of Dwarf Autotetraploid Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis)

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Abstract

Polyploidization is considered as the major force that drives plant species evolution and biodiversity. The leaves of Chinese cabbage, an important vegetable crop valued for its nutritional quality, constitute the main edible organ. In this study, we found that autotetraploid Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) generated from a doubled haploid (DH) line via isolated microspore culture exhibits a dwarf phenotype, along with thick leaves and delayed flowering. Abscisic acid (ABA) and brassinosteroid (BR) levels were significantly lower in autotetraploids compared to DHs. Comparative transcriptome analysis was performed to examine the gene regulatory network. A total of 13,225 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected. Further microRNA (miRNA) analysis identified 102 DEGs that correspond to 35 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs). Subsequent screening of these 102 genes identified 13 key genes with 12 corresponding differentially expressed miRNAs that are related to leaf development and dwarfism. These 13 genes are involved in the regulation of various processes, including BR synthesis (dwarfing), plant growth, flowering time delay, ABA pathway-related growth and metabolism, leaf morphology and development, and cell extension. Two dwarfing-related genes (BraA01000252 and BraA05004386) regulated by two miRNAs (novel_15 and novel_54) were determined to be downregulated, indicating their possible role in leaf thickness and dwarfism in autotetraploid plants. We also propose two possible miRNA-dependent regulatory pathways that contribute to trait formation in autotetraploid Chinese cabbage. These results provide a theoretical basis for further work involving Chinese cabbage varieties by inducing polyploidy.

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Acknowledgements

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31672144) supported this study.

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  1. Yiheng Wang and Shengnan Huang contributed equally to this work and share the first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Horticulture, Shenyang Agricultural University, 120 Dongling Road, Shenhe District, Shenyang, SY, China

    Yiheng Wang, Shengnan Huang, Zhiyong Liu, Xiaoyan Tang & Hui Feng

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  1. Yiheng Wang
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  2. Shengnan Huang
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  3. Zhiyong Liu
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  4. Xiaoyan Tang
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  5. Hui Feng
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Contributions

HF and ZYL conceived and designed the study; YHW and XYT performed the experiments; YHW wrote the paper; YHW and SNH reviewed and edited the manuscript; All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hui Feng.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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The transcriptome and microRNAome sequencing data were deposited in the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) Database under accession numbers GSE111607 and GSE111610, respectively.

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Communicated by S. Hohmann.

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Wang, Y., Huang, S., Liu, Z. et al. Changes in endogenous phytohormones regulated by microRNA-target mRNAs contribute to the development of Dwarf Autotetraploid Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis). Mol Genet Genomics 293, 1535–1546 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-018-1480-z

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