Open AccessThe long noncoding RNA FRILAIR regulates strawberry fruit ripening by functioning as a noncanonical target mimic
Author(s) -
Yajun Tang,
Zhipeng Qu,
Jiajun Li,
Reqing He,
David L. Adelson,
Youlin Zhu,
Zhenbiao Yang,
Dong Wang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.587
H-Index - 233
eISSN - 1553-7404
pISSN - 1553-7390
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009461
Subject(s) - ripening , biology , rna , gene knockdown , microbiology and biotechnology , messenger rna , long non coding rna , gene , genetics , botany
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators in plant development, but few of them have been functionally characterized in fruit ripening. Here, we have identified 25,613 lncRNAs from strawberry ripening fruits based on RNA-seq data from poly(A)-depleted libraries and rRNA-depleted libraries, most of which exhibited distinct temporal expression patterns. A novel lncRNA, FRILAIR harbours the miR397 binding site that is highly conserved in diverse strawberry species. FRILAIR overexpression promoted fruit maturation in the Falandi strawberry, which was consistent with the finding from knocking down miR397, which can guide the mRNA cleavage of both FRILAIR and LAC11a (encoding a putative laccase-11-like protein). Moreover, LAC11a mRNA levels were increased in both FRILAIR overexpressing and miR397 knockdown fruits, and accelerated fruit maturation was also found in LAC11a overexpressing fruits. Overall, our study demonstrates that FRILAIR can act as a noncanonical target mimic of miR397 to modulate the expression of LAC11a in the strawberry fruit ripening process.