Exploring Heat-Response Mechanisms of MicroRNAs Based on Microarray Data of Rice Post-meiosis Panicle

To explore heat response mechanisms of mircoRNAs (miRNAs) in rice post-meiosis panicle, microarray analysis was performed on RNA isolated from rice post-meiosis panicles which were treated at 40°C for 0 min, 10 min, 20 min, 60 min, and 2 h. By integrating paired differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and mRNA expression profiles, we found that the expression levels of 29 DE-miRNA families were negatively correlated to their 178 DE-target genes. Further analysis showed that the majority of miRNAs in 29 DE-miRNA families resisted the heat stress by downregulating their target genes and a time lag existed between expression of miRNAs and their target genes. Then, GO-Slim classification and functional identification of these 178 target genes showed that (1) miRNAs were mainly involved in a series of basic biological processes even under heat conditions; (2) some miRNAs might play important roles in the heat resistance (such as osa-miR164, osa-miR166, osa-miR169, osa-miR319, osa-miR390, osa-miR395, and osa-miR399); (3) osa-miR172 might play important roles in protecting the rice panicle under the heat stress, but osa-miR437, osa-miR418, osa-miR164, miR156, and miR529 might negatively affect rice fertility and panicle flower; and (4) osa-miR414 might inhibit the flowering gene expression by downregulation of LOC_Os 05g51830 to delay the heading of rice. Finally, a heat-induced miRNA-PPI (protein-protein interaction) network was constructed, and three miRNA coregulatory modules were discovered.