Genomics and Applied Biology 2019, Vol.10, No.1, 1-9
6
Continued Table 3
miRNA name
Target genes
Classification
Annotation
vvi-miR845c
c117042_g1
MYB
Transcription factor MYB86
vvi-miR319e
c140676_g1
MYB
Transcription factor GAMYB O
vvi-miR156a
c216848_g1
MYB
Transcription factor MYB1R1
vvi-miR845c
c137982_g4
NAC
NAC domain-containing protein 92
novel_99
c132861_g1
NAC
NAC domain-containing protein 83
novel_115
c102661_g1
NAC
NAC domain-containing protein 72
vvi-miR164a
c90459_g1
NAC
NAC domain-containing protein 21/22
vvi-miR164a
c226976_g1
NAC
NAC domain-containing protein 100
novel_22
c114501_g1
OFP
Transcription repressor OFP6
novel_65
c123197_g1
OFP
Transcription repressor OFP5
novel_65
c127257_g1
PHD
PHD finger protein ALFIN-LIKE 1
vvi-miR156a
c122320_g1
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding-like protein 9
vvi-miR156a
c125779_g1
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding-like protein 7
vvi-miR156a
c128207_g5
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding-like protein 2
vvi-miR156a
c126110_g2
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding-like protein 16
vvi-miR156a
c140764_g2
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding-like protein 16
vvi-miR156a
c142145_g3
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding-like protein 12
vvi-miR156a
c142145_g2
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding-like protein 12
vvi-miR156a
c147806_g3
SPL
Squamosa promoter-binding protein 1
novel_122
c146534_g1
TCP
T-complex protein 1 subunit eta
vvi-miR397a
c168750_g1
TCP
T-complex protein 1 subunit alpha
novel_65
c145572_g4
Trihelix
Trihelix transcription factor GT-2
novel_65
c145572_g3
Trihelix
Trihelix transcription factor GT-2
vvi-miR156b
c131680_g1
WRKY
WRKY transcription factor 6
novel_65
c170532_g1
WRKY
WRKY transcription factor 22
novel_65
c29312_g1
WRKY
Probable WRKY transcription factor 65
novel_113
c145222_g2
WRKY
Probable WRKY transcription factor 13
2 Discussion
Anthocyanin is synthesized by a special branch of the flavonoid pathway, which not only determines the color of
flowers and fruits, but also protects plants from various biological and non-biological stresses. Anthocyanin is also
a safe and non-toxic natural pigment with pharmacological effects. “Zijuan” is a special tea plant with purple
young leaves and high anthocyanin content. Previous studies mainly focused on content changes, component
differences and transcriptome analysis (Cai et al., 2010; Lv et al., 2012; Chen et al., 2015). The purpose of this
study was to identify miRNA target genes related to anthocyanin metabolism and to provide useful information
for studying miRNA regulation of anthocyanin metabolism. Therefore, four miRNA libraries of “Zijuan” tea buds,
second leaves, open leaves and mature leaves were constructed and sequenced. Each library produced more than
10 million Clean reads. From the perspective of Q30 of sequences, the mismatch rate of bases, GC content and the
length distribution of sequences, the number and quality of miRNA sequences were relatively high, and the 24 nt
sequence was the most abundant, which was the same as tobacco (Baksa et al., 2015), asparagus (Chen et al.,
2016) and rubber (Wang et al., 2016). A total of 126 known miRNAs and 119 new miRNAs were identified, and
these obtained miRNAs were highly conserved with the miRNAs of other plants, which suggested that these
miRNAs in tea plants played an important role in regulating their growth and development (Bartel, 2004).
In order to better understand the miRNA function of tea plant, the functional analysis of its target genes was
conduct. Most of the predicted target genes were transcription factors related to plant growth and development,
including SPL, NAC, MYB, ARFs, bHLH and WRKY. These detected miRNA families were highly conserved in
different plants, miR164 regulated NAC transcription factor, participated in cell division (Kim et al., 2007),
secondary cell wall formation (Zhong et al., 2007) and also participated in the growth and aging of organs (Guo et
al., 2006). bHLH transcription factor participated in the synthesis of anthocyanins by regulating the expression of
