Figure 5.

Targets of nbe‐miR166h‐p5 in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. (A) Three targets were predicted through psRNATarget (https://plantgrn.noble.org/psRNATarget/?function=1). (B) The binding site of nbe‐miR166h‐p5 on the mRNAs of each potential target was localized at the encoding sequence. (C) Quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) showed that the mRNA levels of RLK and SAUR were down‐regulated in Potato virus X (PVX)‐infected plants (PVX). Meanwhile, the mRNA levels of the three targets were up‐regulated in nbe‐miR166h‐p5‐suppressed plants (PVX:TM) relative to PVX‐infected plants. (D) qRT‐PCR showed that the mRNA levels of RLK and SAUR were down‐regulated in p25‐expressed leaves, whereas the mRNA levels of KIP were not altered significantly. In the experiment, p25 and the unrelated β‐glucuronidase (GUS) protein (as control) were transiently expressed in leaves through agroinfiltration. The infiltrated leaves were collected for analysis at 3 days post‐inoculation (dpi). Bars represent the standard errors of the means. A two‐sample unequal variance directional t‐test was used to test the significance of the difference (**P < 0.01).