Fig. 3: MIR2111-5 was expressed mainly in the phloem of mature leaves.

a–d GUS expression controlled by a 3.0-kb DNA fragment upstream of MIR2111-5 in true leaves (left) and cotyledon (right) of plants mock-treated (a, c, d) and inoculated with M. loti (5 days after inoculation) (b) were incubated in GUS staining buffer for 3 h. c, d Leaf sections counterstained with 0.1% safranin for 10 min. Xy xylem, Ph phloem. e–h qRT-PCR analyses of mature miR2111s (e, f) and MIR2111-5 (f, g), and TML (i) in leaves (e, g) and roots (f, h, i) at indicated days after inoculation (dai) with M. loti. Scatterplots show individual biological replicates as dots. Bars indicate mean values. All values were normalized by the mean value of wild-type mock-treated leaves. Two-sided Student’s t test was used to determine statistical difference compared with mock control: *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; n.s. not significant.