Investigating the Roles of Small RNAs in Regulating Drought, Heat and Combined Drought and Heat Stress in Sorghum

Author

• Javier Ramos Jr., The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Date of Award

8-1-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Manohar Chakrabarti

Second Advisor

Teresa Feria Arroyo

Third Advisor

Frank Dirrigl

Abstract

Abiotic stresses, such as drought and heat, have negative impacts on the agricultural industry. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a cereal crop known for its resilience to these types of stresses compared to other cereal crops. Due to these unique qualities, this thesis will focus on investigating the roles that small RNAs (sRNAs), including small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), have in regulating drought, heat, and combined drought-heat stress in 8-day-old sorghum seedlings. Differential expression of these sRNAs showed that there were both shared and unique responses occurring at the molecular level in each stress condition. Furthermore, these sRNAs were found to regulate various aspects of a plant's growth and development by regulating genes and transcripts encoding various transcription factors, enzymes involved in metabolic processes, and RNA processing molecules. By better understanding sRNAs, these findings will provide a deeper understanding of how plants can adapt to abiotic stress.

Comments

Copyright 2026 Javier Ramos, Jr. All Rights Reserved. https://proquest.com/docview/3409015448

Recommended Citation

Ramos Jr., J. (2026). Investigating the Roles of Small RNAs in Regulating Drought, Heat and Combined Drought and Heat Stress in Sorghum [Master's thesis, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley]. ScholarWorks @ UTRGV. https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/etd/2054