Abstract
The rice gene MEIOSIS ARRESTED AT LEPTOTENE1 (MEL1), which encodes an ARGONAUTE (AGO) family protein, is required for normal germ-cell development during premeiotic stages. AGO proteins are known to function with small RNAs (sRNA) in gene silencing and heterochromatinization, and play essential roles in various developmental processes in many organisms.
To reveal the molecular function of rice MEL1, the total RNAs were extracted from rice young panicles, and MEL1-associated sRNA were filtrated by RNA-immunoprecipitation (RIP). Both unfiltrated and filtrated sRNA were mega-sequenced by Illumina Genome Analyzer II. The majority of MEL1-associated sRNA was 21-nt in length, and the 5'end of which tended to be the cytocine residue. Most of these sRNA were derived from intergenic regions without any functional annotations. MEL1-associated sRNA made hundreds of clusters on the rice genome. In this presentation, we will discuss the putative function of these sRNA clusters during rice reproduction.This study is supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (S) (21678001) from JSPS and MEXT, Japan.
