Publications by authors named "Meng-Qi Lei"

Rice bacterial blight is a devastating disease worldwide, causing significant yield losses. Understanding how plants defend against microbial infection is critical for sustainable crop production. We previously identified a pathogen-induced long noncoding RNA (ALEX1).

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Increasing grain yield is a major goal of breeders due to the rising global demand for food. We previously reported that the miR397-LACCASE (OsLAC) module regulates brassinosteroid (BR) signaling and grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa). However, the precise roles of laccase enzymes in the BR pathway remain unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Plants can generate callus, a cell mass crucial for tissue regeneration, but the role of chromatin-enriched noncoding RNAs (cheRNAs) in this process is still unclear.
  • Recent research identified 2,284 cheRNAs during various stages of callus formation in rice, revealing their regulatory functions in gene expression and their importance for plant size and seed morphology.
  • These findings highlight cheRNAs' vital role in somatic cell regeneration and suggest they could be key targets for enhancing crop traits in the future.
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The cereal endosperm is a major factor determining seed size and shape. However, the molecular mechanisms of endosperm development are not fully understood. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) function in various biological processes.

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MEIOSIS ARRESTED AT LEPTOTENE1 (MEL1), a rice (Oryza sativa) Argonaute (AGO) protein, has been reported to function specifically at premeiotic and meiotic stages of germ cell development and is associated with a novel class of germ cell-specific small noncoding RNAs called phased small RNAs (phasiRNAs). MEL1 accumulation is temporally and spatially regulated and is eliminated after meiosis. However, the metabolism and turnover (i.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Crop domestication is a key process in plant evolution, and while previous research has focused on noncoding RNAs like microRNAs and protein-coding genes, there's limited understanding of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in this context.
  • - In this study, researchers used RNA sequencing to identify 8,528 lncRNAs in cultivated and wild rice, finding that wild rice lncRNAs are generally shorter and have fewer exons than those in cultivated rice.
  • - The study also uncovered conserved lncRNAs that are linked to domestication traits in rice, shedding light on their role and conservation during the domestication process.
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Plant spermatogenesis is a complex process that directly affects crop breeding. A rapid change in gene abundance occurs at early meiosis prophase, when gene regulation is selective. However, how these genes are regulated remains unknown.

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Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) plays important roles in plant defences against a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses, including UV-B stress. Molecular mechanisms underlying functions of melatonin in plant UV-B responses are poorly understood. Here, we show that melatonin effect on molecular signalling pathways, physiological changes and UV-B stress resistance in Arabidopsis.

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The intine, the inner layer of the pollen wall, is essential for the normal development and germination of pollen. However, the composition and developmental regulation of the intine in rice () remain largely unknown. Here, we identify a microRNA, OsmiR528, which regulates the formation of the pollen intine and thus male fertility in rice.

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs of ∼21 nt in length, which have regulatory roles in many biological processes. In animals, proper functioning of the circadian clock, which is closely linked to the fitness of almost all living organisms, is regulated by miRNAs. However, to date, there have been no reports of the roles of miRNA in regulation of the plant circadian rhythm.

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Plant defence is multilayered and is essential for surviving in a changing environment. The discovery of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has dramatically extended our understanding of post-transcriptional gene regulation in diverse biological processes. However, the expression profile and function of lncRNAs in disease resistance are still largely unknown, especially in monocots.

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N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation plays important roles during development in different species. However, knowledge of m6A RNA methylation in monocots remains limited. In this study, we reported that OsFIP and OsMTA2 are the components of m6A RNA methyltransferase complex in rice and uncovered a previously unknown function of m6A RNA methylation in regulation of plant sporogenesis.

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Background: Pollen tube formation and growth are crucial steps that lead to seed production. Despite the importance of pollen tube growth, the molecular mechanisms implicated in its spatial and temporal control are not fully known. In this study, we found an uclacyanin gene, OsUCL8, that regulates pollen intine deposition and pollen tube growth.

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Increasing grain yield is the most important object of crop breeding. Here, we report that the elevated expression of a conserved microRNA, OsmiR408, could positively regulate grain yield in rice () by increasing panicle branches and grain number. We further showed that OsmiR408 regulates grain yield by down-regulating its downstream target, , which is an uclacyanin (UCL) gene of the phytocyanin family.

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