Cu-miRNA-mediated redox homeostasis explains the differences in cold tolerance between AAA and ABB banana varieties

Banana fruit (Musa spp.) tend to suffer chilling injury but obvious differences exist in the cold tolerance among different banana genotypes. Cu-miRNAs refer to a group of miRNAs that target and regulate the expression of genes encoding copper-containing proteins, most of which play an important role in mediating cellular redox homeostasis. So far, whether Cu-miRNAs influence the differences in cold tolerance among fruit of different banana varieties remains unclear. This work aimed to investigate the distribution and accumulation of Cu-miRNAs in the fruit of representative banana varieties with different genomic backgrounds, and their potential contribution to cold tolerance. AAA and ABB banana fruit were used to compare their cold tolerance phenotype and relevant physiological and biochemical properties. The distribution, structure, sequence conservation, and promoter characteristics of Cu-miRNAs were analyzed via bioinformatics. Next, the difference in Cu-miRNAs expression between ABB and AAA banana fruit by stem-loop qPCR was determined, and dual-luciferase reporter (DLR) experiment was performed to explore the upstream regulators of Cu-miRNAs. Finally, the function of miR528 in cold stress was verified by transient overexpression and silencing experiments on AAA and ABB banana peel slices. ABB banana fruit contained higher levels of proline and glutathione (GSH). These antioxidants contributed to enhanced cold tolerance compared to AAA banana fruit. A higher abundance of most Cu-miRNAs, especially miR528, was observed in ABB than AAA banana fruit. Moreover, the positive regulators of these Cu-miRNAs, MaSPL4 and MaSPL5, were expressed at higher levels in ABB banana fruit under cold stress. Finally, transient transformation assays revealed that miR528 could alter the cold tolerance of both AAA and ABB banana fruit, serving as a positive regulator. Our findings confirm that Cu-miRNAs are closely related to the cold tolerance of banana fruit, offering potential target molecules for improving fruit cold stress resistance.