Role of microRNAs and their putative mechanism in regulating potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) life cycle and response to various environmental stresses.

The exponentially increasing population and the demand for food is inextricably linked. This has shifted global attention to improving crop plant traits to meet global food demands. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a major non-grain food crop that is grown all over the world. Currently, some of the major global potato research work focuses on the significance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in potato. miRNAs are a type of non-coding RNAs that regulate the gene expression of their target mRNA genes by cleavage and/or their translational inhibition. This suggests an essential role of miRNAs in a multitude of plant biological processes, including maintenance of genome integrity, plant growth, development and maturation, and initiation of responses to various stress conditions. Therefore, engineering miRNAs to generate stress-resistant varieties of potato may result in high yield and improved nutritional qualities. In this review, we discuss the potato miRNAs specifically known to play an essential role in the various stages of the potato life cycle, conferring stress-resistant characteristics, and modifying gene expression. This review highlights the significance of the miRNA machinery in plants, especially potato, encouraging further research into engineering miRNAs to boost crop yields and tolerance towards stress. • Potato, being the third most important crop to sustain the hunger and nutritional needs of the world's exponentially growing population. • The environmental stresses brought on by the change in climate induce the nutritional imbalance in potato plants, which ultimately affects the plant growth and tuber yield. • microRNAs have emerged as versatile players in mitigating stress and architecture the potato life cycle. Therefore, decoding the role of miRNAs helps in developing the novel potato cultivar with enhanced stress tolerance and yield. • Keeping this in view we highlight the significance of the miRNA machinery in plants, especially potato, encouraging further research into engineering miRNAs to boost crop yields and tolerance towards stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]