Profiling and characterization of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) microRNAs and their targets.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-protein coding and functional RNAs. They play negative regulatory role in gene regulation. They are endogenous in nature and are ~21 nucleotides in length. They are reported in many plant species, but still missing and need to be identified in other important plants like; eggplant. The comparative genomic methodology due to their conserved nature is a reasonable approach for the novel miRNAs discovery. In this research, total 76 novel miRNAs from 67 families were identified in the important vegetable eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). All precursor miRNAs form stable minimum free energy secondary structures and the mature miRNAs reside in the stem regions. Furthermore, eight miRNAs were randomly selected and experimentally validated through RT-PCR. A total of 345 putative targets were also identified for the novel 76 eggplant miRNAs. Their targets are involved in regulation, metabolism, transcription factors, growth and development and other physiological processes. These findings provide a baseline to unravel the miRNAs role in eggplant and utilize them for the improvement of the plant biology.