Genome-wide identifcation of transcripts and miRNAs during somatic embryogenesis in Pinellia ternata

Abstract Pinellia ternata(Thunb.) Breit, a well-known Chinese medicinal plants, is mainly produced by clonal propagation. Somatic embryogenesis (SEG) is a major process for plant regeneration, however, the molecular mechanism of SEG in P. ternata is still unclear. In this study, genome-wide mRNAs and small RNAs analysis were performed on the samples from three key stages of P. ternata SEG, including explant, calli and protocorm‐like bodies. The results showed that the increase in the content of auxins, especially I3CA and ICA1, contributed to the regeneration of P. ternata; PtAUX/IAA2, PtSAUR4, PtAEC1, PtAEC2, PtAUT1and PtAUT2 were important regulatory genes for auxins systhesis and signal transduction in P. ternata SEG. For the first time, we employed small RNA sequencing to investigate P. ternata SEG, and we discovered that miR396 were the key miRNAs involved in regulating P. ternata SEG by targeting GRF genes.