by Fuxi Rong, Yaqi Zhang, Fangrui Ni, Lantian Zhang, Mingxin Yu, Zheyuan Hong, Muhammad Fahad, Yuxin Shen, Chuanjia Liu, Shengke Tian, Dezhi Wu, Liang Wu In plants, a subset of miRNA precursors can yield multiple mature miRNAs; however, how they simultaneously regulate a single biological process remains poorly understood. Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential heavy metal toxic to plants, posing serious risks to human health via the food chain. As rice is a major dietary source of Cd, elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying Cd accumulation is crucial for ensuring food safety. Here, we show that a pair of miRNAs derived from the MIR408 precursor cooperatively represses Cd uptake in roots by targeting distinct genes, consequently reducing Cd accumulation in rice grains. miR408-5p inhibits translation of Heavy metal-associated Isoprenylated Plant Protein 9 ( HIPP19 ), which is specifically expressed in exodermis and endodermis cells and facilitates Cd binding. Meanwhile, miR408-3p cleav