<mods:mods version="3.3" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-3.xsd" xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><mods:titleInfo><mods:title>Structural and Functional Characteristics of miRNAs in Five Strategic Millet Species and Their Utility in Drought Tolerance</mods:title></mods:titleInfo><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">A</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Chakraborty</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">A</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Viswanath</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">R</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Malipatil</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">A</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Rathore</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">N</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Thirunavukkarasu</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:abstract>Millets are the strategic food crops in arid and drought-prone ecologies. Millets, by virtue&#13;
of nature, are very well-adapted to drought conditions and able to produce sustainable&#13;
yield.Millets have important nutrients that can help preventmicro-nutrientmalnutrition. As&#13;
a result of the adverse effect of climate change and widespread malnutrition, millets have&#13;
attained a strategic position to sustain food and nutritional security. Although millets can&#13;
adapt well to the drought ecologies where other cereals fail completely, the yield level is&#13;
very low under stress. There is a tremendous opportunity to increase the genetic potential&#13;
of millet crops in dry lands when the genetics of the drought-tolerance mechanism is fully&#13;
explained. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are the class of small RNAs that control trait expression.&#13;
They are part of the gene regulation but little studied in millets. In the present study,&#13;
novel miRNAs and gene targets were identified from the genomic resources of pearl&#13;
millet, sorghum, foxtail millet, finger millet, and proso millet through in silico approaches.&#13;
A total of 1,002 miRNAs from 280 families regulating 23,158 targets were identified&#13;
using different filtration criteria in five millet species. The unique as well as conserved&#13;
structural features and functional characteristics of miRNA across millets were explained.&#13;
About 84miRNAs were conserved acrossmillets in different species combinations, which&#13;
explained the evolutionary relationship of the millets. Further, 215 miRNAs controlling&#13;
155 unique major drought-responsive genes, transcription factors, and protein families&#13;
revealed the genetics of drought tolerance that are accumulated in the millet genomes.&#13;
The miRNAs regulating the drought stress through specific targets or multiple targets&#13;
showed through a network analysis. The identified genes regulated by miRNA genes&#13;
could be useful in developing functional markers and used for yield improvement under&#13;
drought in millets as well as in other crops.</mods:abstract><mods:classification authority="lcc">Drought Tolerance</mods:classification><mods:classification authority="lcc">Millets</mods:classification><mods:classification authority="lcc">Food and Nutrition</mods:classification><mods:originInfo><mods:dateIssued encoding="iso8061">2020-12</mods:dateIssued></mods:originInfo><mods:originInfo><mods:publisher>Frontiers Media</mods:publisher></mods:originInfo><mods:genre>Article</mods:genre></mods:mods>