Expression profiles of selected miRNAs in response to <i>Verticillium dahliae</i> infection.

<p>The number below the band indicates the relative expression level of each gene. Raw values were normalized against loading control U6. The expression level of plant at “0 h” was considered as background level and set to 1.</p

Size distribution of eggplant small RNAs in CK and TR libraries.

<p>Size distribution of eggplant small RNAs in CK and TR libraries.</p

Identification of MiRNA from Eggplant (<i>Solanum melongena</i> L.) by Small RNA Deep Sequencing and Their Response to <i>Verticillium dahliae</i> Infection

<div><p>MiRNAs are a class of non-coding small RNAs that play important roles in the regulation of gene expression. Although plant miRNAs have been extensively studied in model systems, less is known in other plants with limited genome sequence data, including eggplant (<i>Solanum melongena</i> L.). To identify miRNAs in eggplant and their response to <i>Verticillium dahliae</i> infection, a fungal pathogen for which clear understanding of infection mechanisms and effective cure methods are currently lacking, we deep-sequenced two small RNA (sRNA) libraries prepared from mock-infected and infected seedlings of eggplants. Specifically, 30,830,792 reads produced 7,716,328 unique miRNAs representing 99 known miRNA families that have been identified in other plant species. Two novel putative miRNAs were predicted with eggplant ESTs. The potential targets of the identified known and novel miRNAs were also predicted based on sequence homology search. It was observed that the length distribution of obtained sRNAs and the expression of 6 miRNA families were obviously different between the two libraries. These results provide a framework for further analysis of miRNAs and their role in regulating plant response to fungal infection and Verticillium wilt in particular.</p></div

COG function classification of predicted target genes.

<p>COG function classification of predicted target genes.</p

Distribution of miRNA counts over different tag abundance categories from CK and TR library.

<p>Distribution of miRNA counts over different tag abundance categories from CK and TR library.</p

List of putative novel miRNAs in eggplant.

<p>List of putative novel miRNAs in eggplant.</p

Effects of NPA, SA and IAA on eggplant response to <i>Verticillium dahliae</i> infection.

<p>Eggplant seedlings with five main leaves were pretreated with different concentrations of NPA, SA, or IAA for 24 h and then infected with <i>Verticillium dahliae</i> for 7 days. Representative leaves were subsequently photographed (A) and the disease index was calculated (B).</p

First nucleotide bias of CK library.

<p>First nucleotide bias of CK library.</p

Statistics of small RNA sequences from CK and TR libraries of eggplant.

<p>Statistics of small RNA sequences from CK and TR libraries of eggplant.</p