Background: Light is the main source of energy and, as such, is one of the most important environmental factors for plant growth, morphogenesis, and other physiological responses. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous non-coding RNAs that contain 21–24 nucleotides (nt) and play important roles in plant growth and development as well as stress responses. However, the role of miRNAs in the light response is less studied. We used tomato seedlings that were cultured in red light then transferred to blue light for 2 min to identify miRNAs related to light response by high-throughput sequencing.Results: A total of 108 known miRNAs and 141 predicted novel miRNAs were identified in leaf samples from tomato leaves treated with the different light qualities. Among them, 15 known and 5 predicted novel miRNAs were differentially expressed after blue light treatment compared with the control (red light treatment). KEGG enrichment analysis showed that significantly enriched pathways included zeatin biosynthesis (ko00908), homologous recombination (ko03440), and plant hormone signal transduction (ko04075). Zeatin biosynthesis and plant hormone signal transduction are related to plant hormones, indicating that plant hormones play important roles in the light response.Conclusion: Our results provide a theoretical basis for further understanding the role of miRNAs in the light response of plants.

The long history of asexual reproduction of garlic using garlic cloves has resulted in virus accumulation and genetic depression. Propagation of garlic seedlings by tissue culture can both eliminate viruses and improve breeding efficiency. Aerial bulbs are the first-choice materials for breeding virus-free garlic seedlings under external conditions, but they show dormancy just like garlic bulbs. However, low temperatures can quickly break dormancy. In this research, we used a high-throughput sequencing method to sequence aerial bulbs during dormancy and after low-temperature-induced breaking of dormancy to screen out the key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with low temperature and to provide a theoretical basis for exploring the molecular mechanism of low-temperature-induced breaking of aerial bulb dormancy. The high-throughput transcriptome sequencing results showed that 6,675 DEGs were upregulated and 36,596 DEGs were downregulated in the aerial bulbs given low-temperature treatment. Then, 19,507 DEGs were assigned KEGG annotations, among which most DEGs were annotated to the metabolism pathway (11,817 genes, accounting for 60.58%), followed by the genetic information processing pathway (4,521 genes, accounting for 23.18%). The DEGs were mostly concentrated in pathways such as protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, plant-pathogen interaction, plant hormone signal transduction, and ribosome biogenesis in eukaryotes, with significant enrichment. The key DEGs related to calcium signaling, hormonal signaling, and transcription factors were screened out, including CaM, CDPK, and CML in accessory pathways of calcium signaling; GA20ox, GAI1, and GA2ox in accessory pathways of hormonal signaling; and transcription factor genes such as MYB, AP2/ERF, bHLH, MADS, and bZIP. qRT-PCR verification results were consistent with the sequencing results, indicating that the transcriptome sequencing data were accurate and reliable. Our results provide a theoretical basis for breaking the dormancy of aerial bulbs with low-temperature treatment to produce virus-free seedlings and increase the output and quality of garlic.