Studying the expression of some candidate MicroRNAs in Petunia under drought stress

Small non-coding RNAs known as microRNAs are essential for responding to biotic and abiotic stresses. A few microRNAs that exhibited varied expressions in the face of drought stress are miR393, miR159, miR169, and miR319. This study examined how these four microRNAs helped petunia deal with drought stress. A 50% drought stress was applied to the petunia plants in the 4 to 6-leave stage, and RNA was isolated from both stressed and control plants. The expression level of microRNAs was examined using the qRT-PCR method under two conditions: control and stress. The data obtained indicated that the expression level of miR319 remained unchanged, while miR393 showed a decrease in expression, and miR169 and miR159 showed increases of 4 and 6.5-fold, respectively.