Potassium Deficiency Significantly Affected Plant Growth and Development as Well as microRNA-Mediated Mechanism in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Article Swipe

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Potassium deficiency Biology Seedling Shoot Iron deficiency Phosphorus deficiency Abiotic component Botany Horticulture Potassium Agronomy Chemistry Nutrient Internal medicine Ecology Anemia Organic chemistry Medicine

Thomas Elliott Thornburg , Jia Liu , Qian Li , Huiyun Xue , Guo Wang , Lijie Li , Julia Elise Fontana , Kyle E. Davis , Wanying Liu , Baohong Zhang , Zhiyong Zhang , Mingjiu Liu , Xiaoping Pan ·

YOU? · · 2020 · Open Access · · DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.01219 · OA: W3049558545

It is well studied that potassium (K+) deficiency induced aberrant growth and development of plant and altered the expression of protein-coding genes. However, there are not too many systematic investigations on root development affected by K+ deficiency, and there is no report on miRNA expression during K+ deficiency in wheat. In this study, we found that K+ deficiency significantly affected wheat seedling growth and development, evidenced by reduced plant biomass and small plant size. In wheat cultivar AK-58, up-ground shoots were more sensitive to K+ deficiency than roots. K+ deficiency did not significantly affect root vitality but affected root development, including root branching, root area, and root size. K+ deficiency delayed seminal root emergence but enhanced seminal root elongation, total root length, and correspondingly total root surface area. K+ deficiency also affected root and leaf respiration at the early exposure stage, but these effects were not observed at the later stage. One potential mechanism causing K+ deficiency impacts is microRNAs (miRNAs), one important class of small regulatory RNAs. K+ deficiency induced the aberrant expression of miRNAs and their targets, which further affected plant growth, development, and response to abiotic stresses, including K+ deficiency. Thereby, this positive root adaption to K+ deficiency is likely associated with the miRNA-involved regulation of root development.