Deep sequencing analyses of pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus microRNAs reveal distinct miRNA expression patterns during the pathological process of pine wilt disease

XiaoLei Ding; JianRen Ye; XiaoQin Wu; Lin Huang; LiHua Zhu; SiXi Lin

doi:10.1016/j.gene.2014.11.030

Deep sequencing analyses of pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus microRNAs reveal distinct miRNA expression patterns during the pathological process of pine wilt disease

Gene. 2015 Jan 25;555(2):346-56. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2014.11.030. Epub 2014 Nov 15.

Authors

XiaoLei Ding¹, JianRen Ye², XiaoQin Wu¹, Lin Huang¹, LiHua Zhu¹, SiXi Lin¹

Affiliations

¹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, China; Institute of Forest Protection, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Prevention and Management of Invasive Species, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, China; Institute of Forest Protection, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Prevention and Management of Invasive Species, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: njfu_jrye@163.com.

PMID: 25447893
DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2014.11.030

Abstract

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is known as the causative agent of pine wilt disease with complex life cycles. In this research, four small RNA libraries derived from different infection stages of pine wilt disease were constructed and sequenced. Consequently, we obtained hundreds of evolutionarily conserved miRNAs and novel miRNA candidates. The analysis of miRNA expression patterns showed that most miRNAs were expressed at extraordinarily high levels during the middle stage of pine wilt disease. Functional analysis revealed that expression levels of miR-73 and miR-239 were mutually exclusive with their target GH45 cellulase genes. In addition, another set of atypical miRNAs, termed mirtrons, was also identified in this study. Thus, our research has provided detailed characterization of B. xylophilus miRNA expression patterns during the pathological process of pine wilt disease. These findings would contribute to more in-depth understanding of this devastating plant disease.

Keywords: Bursaphelenchus xylophilus; MicroRNA; Mirtron; qPCR.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Base Sequence
Computational Biology
Conserved Sequence
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Expression Profiling
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / methods*
MicroRNAs / metabolism*
Molecular Sequence Data
Nematoda / genetics*
Nucleic Acid Conformation
Pinus / parasitology*
Plant Diseases / parasitology*
RNA / metabolism
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

Substances

MicroRNAs
RNA