Use of microRNA‐encoded peptides to improve agronomic traits

Mélanie Ormancey (1) , Bruno Guillotin (1) , Hélène San Clemente (1) , Patrice Thuleau (2) , Serge Plaza (2) , Jean‐philippe Combier (2)

1 LRSV - Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales
2 Peptides et petits ARN

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNA molecules (21–24 nt) regulating the expression of target genes at the post-transcriptional level, by cleaving their mRNA. Because these target genes are mainly regulatory genes, miRNAs are involved at the crossroads of several biological processes (Liu et al., 2018). miRNAs are transcribed as long primary transcripts (pri-miRNAs) (Xie et al., 2005). Recent findings revealed that plant pri-miRNAs encode regulatory peptides called miRNA-encoded peptides (miPEPs) (Lauressergues et al., 2015; Sharma et al., 2020). miPEPs specifically enhance the transcription of their pri-miRNA, leading to phenotypes consistent with the functions of their cognate miRNA. Only a few miPEPs have been found as useful tools in agronomy. Indeed, soybean miPEP172c was shown to increase nodulation, aiming for a better yield (Couzigou et al., 2016), and grapevine miPEP171d increased adventitious root formation (Chen et al., 2020). In both cases, the role of the corresponding miRNA was previously known. Here, we questioned whether it would be feasible to screen a whole set of miPEPs for a particular phenotype in Arabidopsis thaliana, and whether it was possible to transpose these data to plants of agronomic interest.

Mots clés: microRNA; peptide; miPEPs

Domaines: Biologie végétale; Biotechnologies; Agronomie

Mélanie Ormancey, Bruno Guillotin, Hélène San Clemente, Patrice Thuleau, Serge Plaza, et al.. Use of microRNA‐encoded peptides to improve agronomic traits. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2021, 19 (9), pp.1687-1689. ⟨10.1111/pbi.13654⟩. ⟨hal-03360224⟩