Abstract

French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), a legume grown all over the world, is an important pulse crop of India whose yield is affected by various biotic and abiotic stresses. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play an important role in the regulation of plant responses to several stresses. Boron toxicity is a significant limitation to cereal crop production. In this study, RT-qPCR confirmed seven miRNAs responsive to high concentrations of boron, exhibited differential expression trends compared with the control. Target prediction and their functional analysis showed that most of the miRNA targets represent transcription factors regulating expression of stressrelated genes. GO results supported our hypothesis that miRNAs were involved in diverse cellular processes, including plant circadian cycle, vegetative development, transcription, and cross adaptation. Our research characterized a subset of miRNAs that would facilitate understanding the regulatory mechanisms of small noncoding regulatory RNAs involved in stress tolerance.

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