MiRNA Control of Vegetative Phase Change in Trees

After germination, plants enter juvenile vegetative phase and then transition to an adult vegetative phase before producing reproductive structures. The character and timing of the juvenile-to-adult transition vary widely between species. In annual plants, this transition occurs soon after germination and usually involves relatively minor morphological changes, whereas in trees and other perennial woody plants it occurs after months or years and can involve major changes in shoot architecture. Whether this transition is controlled by the same mechanism in annual and perennial plants is unknown. In the annual forb Arabidopsis thaliana and in maize (Zea mays), vegetative phase change is controlled by the sequential activity of microRNAs miR156 and miR172. miR156 is highly abundant in seedlings and decreases during the juvenile-to-adult transition, while miR172 has an opposite expression pattern. We observed similar changes in the expression of these genes in woody species with highly differentiated, well-characterized juvenile and adult phases (Acacia confusa, Acacia colei, Eucalyptus globulus, Hedera helix, Quercus acutissima), as well as in the tree Populus x canadensis, where vegetative phase change is marked by relatively minor changes in leaf morphology and internode length. Overexpression of miR156 in transgenic P. x canadensis reduced the expression of miR156-targeted SPL genes and miR172, and it drastically prolonged the juvenile phase. Our results indicate that miR156 is an evolutionarily conserved regulator of vegetative phase change in both annual herbaceous plants and perennial trees.

• Publication year

  2011

• Venue

  PLoS Genetics

• Publication date

  2011-02-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002012PMID 21383862PMCID 3044678
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• miR156 overexpression drastically prolonged the juvenile phase in Populus x canadensis, consistent with a conserved role in controlling vegetative phase change.

  Confidence 0.96

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• Overexpression of miR156 in transgenic Populus x canadensis reduced expression of miR156-targeted SPL genes and miR172.

  Confidence 0.97

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• miR156 decreases and miR172 shows the opposite developmental pattern during vegetative phase change in several woody species and in Populus x canadensis.

  Confidence 0.95

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review

• juvenile-to-adult transition

  developmental transition

  The switch from juvenile vegetative phase to adult vegetative phase in a plant shoot.

  Aliases: juvenile to adult transition

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• mir156

  microRNA

  A microRNA whose abundance is high in seedlings and changes during the juvenile-to-adult vegetative transition in the species examined here.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• mir172

  microRNA

  A microRNA tracked alongside miR156 as part of the developmental phase-change program in the plants studied here.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• populus x canadensis

  species, tree

  A hybrid poplar tree species used here as the perennial woody plant system for testing phase-change regulation.

  Aliases: P. x canadensis

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• spl genes

  gene family

  miR156-targeted SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE genes analyzed for expression changes in transgenic poplar.

  Aliases: SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE genes, SPL

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• vegetative phase change

  developmental process

  The developmental progression from juvenile vegetative growth to adult vegetative growth before reproductive structures are produced.

  Aliases: vegetative phase transition

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) review

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