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Identification and characterization of small RNAs from vernalizedArabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are two major classes of small non-coding RNAs with important roles in the regulation of gene expression, such as mRNA degradation and translational repression, heterochromatin formation, genome defense against transposons and viruses in eukaryotes. MiRNA- and siRNA-directed processes have emerged as a regulatory mechanism for growth and development in both animals and plants. To identify small RNAs that might be involved in vernalization, a process accelerating flowering brought on by a long period of cold, we generated a library of small RNAs from Arabidopsis that had been subject to vernalization. From the analysis of the library, 277 small RNAs were identified. They were distributed throughout all the five chromosomes. While the vast majority of small RNA genes locate on intergenic regions, others locate on repeat-rich regions, centromeric regions, transposon-related genes, and protein-coding genes. Five of them were mapped to convergent overlapping gene pairs. Two-hundred and forty of them were novel endogenous small RNAs that have not been cloned yet from plants grown under normal conditions and other environmental stresses. Seven putative miRNAs were up- or down-regulated by vernalization. In conclusion, many small RNAs were identified from vernalized Arabidopsis and some of these identified small RNAs may play roles in plant responses to vernalization.

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  1. Horim Lee

    Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 02114, Boston, MA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Laboratory of Plant Developmental Genetics, Department of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742, Seoul, Korea

    Mijin Oh, Horim Lee & Ilha Lee

  2. Clobal Research Laboratory for Flowering at SNU and UW, 151-742, Seoul, Korea

    Ilha Lee

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, and Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Seoul National University, 151-742, Seoul, Korea

    Young-Kook Kim & V. Narry Kim

  4. Center for Bio information Technology, Seoul National University, 151-742, Seoul, Korea

    Jin-Wu Nam, Je-Keun Rhee & Byoung-Tak Zhang

  5. Biointelligence Laboratory, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 151-742, Seoul, Korea

    Byoung-Tak Zhang

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  1. Mijin Oh
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  2. Horim Lee
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  8. Ilha Lee
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Correspondence to Ilha Lee.

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Oh, M., Lee, H., Kim, YK. et al. Identification and characterization of small RNAs from vernalizedArabidopsis thaliana . J. Plant Biol. 50, 562–572 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030710

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030710

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