Deep sequencing analyses of pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus microRNAs reveal distinct miRNA expression patterns during the pathological process of pine wilt disease

•The profiling of miRNA expression patterns during the pathological process of pine wilt disease•Discovery and validation of five mirtrons•Validation of evolutionary conserved miRNAs

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is known as the causative agent of pine wilt disease with complex life cycles. In this research, four small RNA libraries derived from different infection stages of pine wilt disease were constructed and sequenced. Consequently, we obtained hundreds of evolutionarily conserved miRNAs and novel miRNA candidates. The analysis of miRNA expression patterns showed that most miRNAs were expressed at extraordinarily high levels during the middle stage of pine wilt disease. Functional analysis revealed that expression levels of miR-73 and miR-239 were mutually exclusive with their target GH45 cellulase genes. In addition, another set of atypical miRNAs, termed mirtrons, was also identified in this study. Thus, our research has provided detailed characterization of B. xylophilus miRNA expression patterns during the pathological process of pine wilt disease. These findings would contribute to more in-depth understanding of this devastating plant disease.