IDENTIFICATION OF MICRORNAS RESPONSIVE TO ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI IN PANICUM VIRGATUM (SWITCHGRASS)

Production of lignocellulosic biofuel feedstocks on marginal lands will likely be constrained by abiotic factors including low nutrient content of the soil; therefore, we must utilize strategies to help these crops thrive under low inputs. Association with symbiotic soil fungi called arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) influences a plants ability to access nutrition in low nutrient soils. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be dynamically expressed during AM colonization in a range of plant species. Our goals were to identify switchgrass miRNA expression patterns during AM colonization while also identifying their mRNA targets.