The miR169 miRNA family is highly conserved in plants. Its members regulate the expression of genes encoding the universal transcription factor subunit NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y subunit A (NF-YA) via transcript cleavage. NF-YA regulates gene expression by binding the CCAAT box sequence in target promoters. The miR169/NF-YA module plays a critical role during plant development and in plant responses to abiotic stress. We characterized the secondary structures of maize pre-miR169 miRNAs and predicted their potential gene targets. Coexpression of zma-miR169 and ZmNF-YA in Nicotiana benthamiana demonstrated that mutations in or deletion of target sites abolished regulation by zma-miR169. Maize seedlings were subjected to short-term (0-48h) and long-term (15days) drought, abscisic acid (ABA), or salt stress. Long-term exposure to PEG (drought stress) or NaCl (salt stress) repressed seedling growth. We investigated the expression patterns of zma-miR169s and their target ZmNF-YA genes in maize leaves and found diverse changes in expression in response to the three stress treatments. The expression of most zma-miR169 genes was downregulated by PEG and upregulated by ABA. In response to salt stress, zma-miR169 genes were upregulated initially and subsequently downregulated. Most ZmNF-YA genes were upregulated during the short term and downregulated by 15days in response to the three stress treatments.
Keywords: Abiotic stress; Expression pattern; Maize leaves; Transient expression; ZmNF-YA; Zma-miR169.
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