Cloning and validation of novel miRNA from basmati rice indicates cross talk between abiotic and biotic stresses

Most of the physiological processes are controlled by the small RNAs in several organisms including plants. A huge database exists on one type of small RNA, i.e., microRNAs (miRs) identified from diverse species. However, the processes of data-mining of miRs in most of the species are still incomplete. Rice feeds the hungry trillions and hence understanding its developmental processes as well as its stress biology, which might be largely controlled by the small RNA pathways, is certainly a worthwhile task. Here, we report the cloning and identification of approximately 40 new putative miRs from local basmati rice variety in accordance to the annotation suggested by Meyers et al. (Plant Cell 20:3186-3190, 2008). About 23 sequences were derived from rice exposed to salt stress while 18 were derived from rice infected with tungro virus. A few of these putative miRs were common to both. Our data showed that at least two of these miRs were up-regulated in response to both abiotic and biotic stresses. The miR target predictions indicate that most of the putative miRs target specific metabolic processes. The up-regulation of similar miRs in response to two entirely different types of stresses suggests a converging functional role of miRs in managing various stresses. Our findings suggest that more rice miRs need to be identified and a thorough understanding of the function of such miRs will help unravel the mysteries of rice stress biology.