Identification of microRNAs and other small RNAs involved in phosphorus uptake of plants

Phosphorus is essential for plant growth but its availability in soil is too low to meet the requirements of plant growth. Our project is to identify phosphorus-regulated miRNAs and evaluate miRNAs that are thought to have a role in phosphate homeostasis. To date, we have identified a number of miRNAs that vary in expression between phosphorus-deficient and phosphorus-sufficient conditions. To further understand the functional mechanism of miRNAs in phosphate homeostasis, we constructed a barley degradome library to identify targets of phosphorus-regulated miRNAs. Using this library, we have identified a few targets that potentially regulate phosphorus uptake in barley (Hordeum vulagre L.).