Uncovering the miRNA-mediated regulatory network involved in Ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus) de novo shoot organogenesis

Abstract

Bamboo is an important non-timber forest product and is well-known for its reluctance to regenerate. Recently we have established a de novo shoot organogenesis (DNSO) protocol in Ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus) and revealed the transcriptomic dynamics during Ma bamboo regeneration, which suggested the potential roles of Ma bamboo microRNAs (DlamiRNAs) in this process. However, how DlamiRNAs regulate bamboo DNSO is poorly understood. Here we performed integrated analysis with sRNAome, degradome, and transcriptome sequencing by using samples covering the four stages of the bamboo DNSO process. A total of 727 DlamiRNAs showed differential expression during the bamboo DNSO process, and the core DlamiRNA–DlamRNA- mediated regulatory networks for bamboo DNSO were constructed. Based on the results, DlamiR156 was selected for further functional characterization of its potential roles in bamboo DNSO. Transgenic bamboos with increased DlamiR156 levels exhibited an enhancement in their regeneration efficiency. Conversely, when DlamiR156 levels were downregulated, the regeneration efficiencies of transgenic bamboos decreased. Our findings show that the DlamiRNA-mediated regulatory pathways are significant in the process of bamboo regeneration and will contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing plant organogenesis in a more comprehensive manner.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32071847), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No. 2022J02023), the Fujian Province Forestry Science and Technology Project (No. 2022FKJ06), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFD2200504), and the Construction of Plateau Discipline of Fujian Province (118/72202200201). The funding bodies were not involved in the design of the study or in any aspect of the data collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data or in paper writing.

Authors contributions

Z.Q. conceived and designed the experiments; W.N.N. performed experiments and analyzed the data; W.W.J., C.Y., and C.C.Y. contributed to performing the experiments and collected the data. Z.Q. was responsible for project administration and funding acquisition; Z.Q. wrote the article with contributions from all authors. All authors have read and approved the final version of this manuscript.

Data availability

All data supporting the findings in this study can be found in the Supplementary Data. RNA-seq data generated in this study have been submitted to GSA under BioProject number PRJNA987326; small RNA sequencing data and the degradome sequencing data have been submitted to NCBI under SRA accession number PRJNA986469.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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