ABSTRACT
Plants respond to biotic stresses via several physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, have been shown to play important roles in many aspects of plant growth and development as well as in biotic stress tolerance. They have also been shown to regulate genes across kingdoms in plant-pathogen interactions. miRNAs regulate target gene expression either by cleavage or by inhibiting translation of the target gene transcript. In this chapter, we discuss current knowledge of miRNA biogenesis in plants, their mechanisms of action, methods of identification and validation, as well as roles in biotic stress tolerance. We also discuss the miRNA-based approach for conferring biotic stress tolerance in crop plants for sustainable agriculture. Thus, the miRNA-mediated approach could be a promising and efficient strategy to protect plants from multiple biotic and abiotic stresses.
