Fusarium head blight (FHB), a prevalent disease of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) caused by Fusarium graminearum, leads to considerable losses of yield and quality in wheat production. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of plant defense responses. Here, to better understand the F. graminearum-responsive miRNAs, we constructed sRNA libraries for wheat cultivar Sumai 3 challenged with F. graminearum and sterile water, respectively. As a result, a total of 203 known miRNAs from 46 families and 68 novel miRNAs were identified. Among them, 18 known and six novel miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between the F. graminearum-infected samples and the controls and thus were considered to be responsive to F. graminearum. The expression patterns of eight miRNAs were further validated by stem-loop qRT-PCR. Meanwhile, target genes were validated by degradome sequencing. Integrative analysis of the differentially expressed miRNAs and their targets revealed complex miRNA-mediated regulatory networks involved in the response of wheat to F. graminearum infection. Our findings are expected to facilitate a better understanding of the miRNA regulation in wheat-F. graminearum interaction.

中文翻译：

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通过sRNA测序和降解组分析鉴定小麦中禾本科镰刀菌反应性miRNA及其靶标。

镰刀菌枯萎病（FHB）是由禾谷镰刀菌引起的一种面包小麦（普通小麦）的普遍病，导致小麦产量和品质的相当大的损失。微小RNA（miRNA）是植物防御反应的重要调节剂。在这里，为了更好地了解禾谷镰刀菌应答的miRNA，我们构建了分别针对禾谷镰刀菌和无菌水攻击的小麦品种Sumai 3的sRNA文库。结果，鉴定了来自46个家族的总共203个已知的miRNA和68个新的miRNA。其中，发现18个已知的miRNA和6个新颖的miRNA在禾谷镰刀菌之间差异表达。感染的样品和对照，因此被认为对禾本科镰刀菌有反应。通过茎环qRT-PCR进一步验证了八个miRNA的表达模式。同时，通过降解基因组测序验证了靶基因。对差异表达的miRNA及其靶标的综合分析显示，复杂的miRNA介导的调控网络参与了小麦对禾本科镰刀菌感染的响应。我们的发现有望促进对小麦-禾谷镰刀菌相互作用中miRNA调控的更好理解。