The Role of Noncoding RNA Pattern and Function in Fiber Cell

For ICGI 2018. Cotton fiber is the most important sustainable fiber source for textile industry. It is a single cell organ derived from the epidermis of the cotton ovule or seed. To understand the molecular basis of plant cell differentiation pattern, the cotton fiber cell is a good model system. Non-coding RNA is emerging as one of the most important regulators for the gene expression in response to multiple biological transitions and environmental stimuli. We systematically investigate the non-coding RNA behavior in the fiber cell differentiation progress. The major data indicate both small RNA and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) play critical roles in fiber cell development. First of all, the fiber cell generates a unique group of small RNA in the fiber initiation stage. For example, the miR828 and miR858 trigger the target gene GhMYB2 to generate tasiRNAs in fiber cell fate determination. Another MIXTA MYB transcriptional factor coding gene, GhMML3 can generate an antisense transcript on the 3’ end of the gene loci. Together with the sense and antisense transcripts, a double strand RNA come into being to derive small RNAs. These secondary generated small RNAs interfere the cell fate determination in the mml3 mutant in stimulating the fiberless seed phenotype. On the other hand, the long non-coding RNAs are also found to take parts in the fiber cell differentiation by small RNA generation. We therefore conclude noncoding RNAs directly impact the fiber cell development in multiple aspects of molecular regulation.