Discovery of microRNAs in Pyrus stigma exudates opens new research avenues in Horticulture

0585132 - ÚEB 2025 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Ambastha, V. - Nevo, Y. - Matityhu, I. - Honys, David - Leshem, Y.
Discovery of microRNAs in Pyrus stigma exudates opens new research avenues in Horticulture.
PNAS Nexus. Roč. 2, č. 11 (2023), č. článku pgad332. E-ISSN 2752-6542
Institutional support: RVO:61389030
Keywords : extracellular RNA (exRNAs) * microRNA (miRs) * pear species * stigma exudates
OECD category: Plant sciences, botany
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad332

In many plant species, flower stigma secretions are important in early stages of sexual reproduction. Previous chemical analysis and proteomic characterization of these exudates provided insights into their biological function. Nevertheless, the presence of nucleic acids in the stigma exudates has not been previously reported. Here, we studied the stigma exudates of Pyrus communis, Pyrus pyrifolia, and Pyrus syriaca and showed them to harbor extracellular RNAs of various sizes. RNA sequencing revealed, for the first time, the presence of known Rosaceae mature microRNAs (miRs), also abundant in the stigma source tissue. Predicted targets of the exudate miRs in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome include genes involved in various biological processes. Several of these genes are pollen transcribed, suggesting possible involvement of exudate miRs in transcriptional regulation of the pollen. Moreover, extracellular miRs can potentially act across kingdoms and target genes of stigma interacting organisms/microorganisms, thus opening novel applicative avenues in Horticulture.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0352865