Identification and Analysis of Powdery Mildew‐Responsive mi RNA s in Wheat

Wheat powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) , is one of the most consistently damaging diseases of common wheat worldwide and greatly affects crop productivity. Recently, several plant micro RNA s (mi RNA s) have been reported as gene expression regulators related to various adverse environments. However, up to now, less is known on the roles of mi RNA s in powdery mildew infection response of wheat. In this study, mi RNA expression patterns were investigated for identifying Bgt ‐responsive mi RNA s in wheat leaves using a plant mi RNA microarray platform. A total of 79 mi RNA s from 24 families were detected in wheat leaves. Among those, seven mi RNA s were further validated to be involved in wheat powdery mildew response and two of them have never been reported. In addition, their target expression profiles showed a negative correlation with that of the seven mi RNA s in mock‐ and Bgt ‐infected samples furtherly proved, which in turn as the robust evidence, that those seven powdery mildew‐responsive mi RNA s are highly reliable. These findings could extend the current view about mi RNA s as ubiquitous regulators under stress conditions.