Nitrogen, an essential macronutrient for the growth and development of plants, affects above- ground biomass accumulation dramatically. Thus, it is very important to reveal the molecular mechanisms of how plants resist or adapt to low nitrogen availability. The NAC1(NAM, ATAF, CUC 1) gene, located in the upstream regulatory network, has been reported to resist low nitrogen by regulating expression of key downstream genes and thus root growth in (Populus tremula × alba).In this study, we detected the responses of miR164 and its target gene NAC1 under nitrate-starvation condition using the Betula luminifera somaclones G49-3 as material. The NAC1 gene which contains 1497 bp sequence, encodes 358 amino acids and contains a highly conserved NAM domain at N terminal was cloned by the RACE method. The NAC1 was then validated to be the target gene of miR164 via 5′-RACE, and the cleavage site was between the 10th and 11th base. The expression patterns of miR164 and its target gene NAC1 were further detected under nitrate-starvation condition through qRT-PCR analysis. The results showed that miR164 expression was repressed by nitrate-starvation at the beginning of the treatment (4 d) and then ascended. However, the expression pattern of miR164 in roots was different from that in shoots and leaves. Moreover, the expression levels of target gene NAC1 and miR164 were negatively correlated. The expression level of miR164 in root was increased while that of NAC1 was decreased under Re treatment, which indicated that miR164 and its target gene NAC1 play a regulatory role in response to low nitrate availability. The findings of our study may help elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which miR164 regulates target gene NAC1 at post-transcriptional level, and provide valuable information for further study of the regulatory roles of miR164-NAC1 under nitrate-starvation condition.
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