Genome-wide identification of the miR156 family in Phyllostachys edulis and the potential role of phe-MIR156o in root, culm and panicle regulation

Phyllostachys edulis is a sustainable biomass material. The miR156 family has been shown to play an important role in regulating the key stages of growth and development in many different plant species. Nevertheless, the miR156 family of P. edulis has not yet been systematically identified and analyzed, and its function remains unclear. In this study, we identified 23 miR156 family members of P. edulis , and conducted a detailed bioinformatics analysis. Some phe-miR156 family members were distributed in clusters on chromosomes, all precursors can form stable stem-loop structures and all mature sequences have high base sequence conservation. Most target genes of phe-miR156 s were predicted to be SPL transcription factors by psRNATarget. Subsequently, we found almost no overlap between the target genes with MREs (miRNA-responsive elements) located in the coding sequence (CDS) region and those in the 3’ untranslated region (3’UTR). The transgenic results demonstrated that phe-miR156o could significantly promote the root development of Arabidopsis thaliana and remarkably delay the plant height growth of Oryza sativa . In addition, overexpression of phe-miR156o may inhibit O. sativa yield by regulating the number of grains per panicle and the number of effective panicles. The dual-luciferase assay verified that PheSPL3-1 and PheSPL13-2 were the target genes of phe-miR156o . phe-miR156o - PheSPL3-1 / PheSPL13-2 likely form a molecular module to regulate the growth and development process of P. edulis jointly. It offers profound and valuable insights into the fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying bamboo growth and development. • phe- miR156 members with stable precursors and conserved mature sequences. • Targets with miR156 sites in coding differ from those in 3’ untranslated region. • phe-MIR156o regulated root development, delayed rice growth and reduced yield. • phe-miR156o-PheSPL3-1/PheSPL13-2 formed a module.