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Poster

Session: Session 2 Presenting Authors at Posters (Odds)

P-059 - MicroRNA-encoded peptide regulates disease resistance and growth balance in rice

Wednesday, July 16, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Crop resistance genetics and genomics

    Presenting Author(s)

  • YD

    Yiwen Deng

    College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University
    HangZhou, Zhejiang, China

    • Author(s)

  • XL

    XING LV

    College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University
    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (People's Republic)

  • XG

    Xiangyu Gong

    College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University
    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (People's Republic)

  • FJ

    Fangyuan Jiao

    CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

  • DL

    Di Liang

    CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

  • ZH

    Zuhua He

    Professor
    CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, CAS
    Shanghai, CHINA

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in regulating plant growth and stress responses by binding to and cleaving target mRNAs. Some primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) can also encode small peptides, known as miRNA-encoded peptides (miPEPs), which may contribute to the regulation of plant development and stress responses. Here, we report that rice pri-miR160 encodes a functional small peptide, miPEP160, which modulates both disease resistance and plant growth in rice. Deletion of the miPEP160-encoding region led to increased susceptibility to rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae) and bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), whereas transgenic plants overexpressing miPEP160 exhibited significantly enhanced resistance to both pathogens. Notably, miPEP160-overexpressing (OE-miPEP160) lines showed a marked increase in the number of seeds per panicle and grain yield, while knockout lines displayed reduced plant height but an increased number of tillers. Importantly, the miPEP160 coding region does not influence miR160 function in regulating plant growth and disease resistance. Together, our findings reveal a novel, miRNA-independent role of miPEPs and provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying plant growth and stress responses.