Expression dynamics of Glycine max (L.) Merrill microRNAs (miRNAs) and their targets during Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV) infection

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are class of small non coding RNAs (sncRNAs) that modulate gene regulatory mechanisms including conferring antiviral resistance in plants. Expressional changes of selected conserved miRNAs and putatively antiviral miRNAs were analyzed in two soybean genotypes (JS335 and UPSM534) with contrasting disease reaction trait against Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV) family Geminiviridae. Expression profiling of conserved miRNAs and corresponding target mRNAs in both the soybean genotypes suggests the role of Argonaute homeostasis in virus resistance along with the gene regulatory changes in hormonal signaling pathways. Putative antiviral miRNAs displayed upregulation upon MYMIV infection in both the soybean genotypes. Further, experimental evidence prove that soybean derived miRNA potentially target and direct cleavage of MYMIV mRNA encoding movement protein (BC1). Thus, this work provides molecular insights regarding changes in expression of miRNAs during MYMIV infection and improves deeper understanding of role of soybean miRNAs in MYMIV resistance. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of soybean derived miRNAs exhibiting potential antiviral resistance during begomovirus infection.