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An expression atlas of rice mRNAs and small RNAs

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Abstract

Identification of all expressed transcripts in a sequenced genome is essential both for genome analysis and for realization of the goals of systems biology. We used the transcriptional profiling technology called 'massively parallel signature sequencing' to develop a comprehensive expression atlas of rice (Oryza sativa cv Nipponbare). We sequenced 46,971,553 mRNA transcripts from 22 libraries, and 2,953,855 small RNAs from 3 libraries. The data demonstrate widespread transcription throughout the genome, including sense expression of at least 25,500 annotated genes and antisense expression of nearly 9,000 annotated genes. An additional set of 15,000 mRNA signatures mapped to unannotated genomic regions. The majority of the small RNA data represented lower abundance short interfering RNAs that match repetitive sequences, intergenic regions and genes. Among these, numerous clusters of highly regulated small RNAs were readily observed. We developed a genome browser (http://mpss.udel.edu/rice) for public access to the transcriptional profiling data for this important crop.

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Figure 1: Genome-wide transcriptional analysis by mRNA MPSS.
Figure 2: Deep sequencing of rice small RNAs by MPSS.

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  • 23 March 2007

    In the version of this article initially published, the fourth author’s name was misspelled. The correct spelling is André Beló. The error has been corrected for all versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to C. Haudenschild, TIGR's rice annotation project, S. Singh Tej, M. Nakano, R. German, A. Hetawal, R. Gupta and S. Kaushik. This work was supported by US National Science Foundation awards 0321437 (B.C.M. and G.-l.W.) and 0439186 (P.J.G. and B.C.M.), and US Department of Agriculture 2005-35064-15326 (B.C.M. and P.J.G.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

K.N. performed research, analyzed data and wrote the manuscript, R.C.V. and C.L. performed laboratory research and provided useful discussions, A.B., K.V., K.K., W.W. and M.P. performed computational research; P.J.G. and G.-l.W. designed research and wrote manuscript; B.C.M. designed research, analyzed data, and coordinated and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Blake C Meyers.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Filter results for 22 mRNA MPSS libraries (PDF 21 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Similarity of the pattern among the diverse tissues (PDF 17 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

Representation of library-specific genes in each tissue (PDF 123 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 4

Actively expressed genes and intergenic transcripts (PDF 440 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 5

Correlation of sense and antisense expression (PDF 643 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 6

Rice small RNAs are dispersed throughout the genome (PDF 2410 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 7

Small RNA sequences in the completely sequenced centromere of rice (PDF 35 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 8

Classes of genomic features matched by rice small RNAs (PDF 37 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 9

Distribution of small RNAs across rice chromosomes (PDF 358 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 10

Small RNA sequences in a genic region of the rice genome (PDF 3074 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 11

Patterns of retrotransposon silencing and expression in the rice genome (PDF 37 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 12

Tandem and inverted repeats are substantial sources of small RNAs in rice (PDF 39 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 13

Expression and conservation of rice small RNAs (PDF 94 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 14

Number of genes that are supported by MPSS signatures, based on signatures matching multiple locations in the genome (PDF 31 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 15

Co-expression analysis of adjacent genes (PDF 53 kb)

Supplementary Table 1

Libraries and signature counts – summary statistics (PDF 54 kb)

Supplementary Table 2

Genomic signatures and number of corresponding genes (PDF 71 kb)

Supplementary Table 3

Known microRNAs genes and ncRNAs associated with mRNA signatures (PDF 58 kb)

Supplementary Table 4

Summary statistics for small RNA libraries (PDF 53 kb)

Supplementary Table 5

Genomics localization of small RNA signatures (PDF 54 kb)

Supplementary Table 6

Clusters of small RNAs in the rice genome (PDF 51 kb)

Supplementary Table 7

Differential or constant cluster or genes in the rice small RNA libraries (PDF 97 kb)

Supplementary Data (PDF 81 kb)

Supplementary Methods (PDF 736 kb)

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Nobuta, K., Venu, R., Lu, C. et al. An expression atlas of rice mRNAs and small RNAs. Nat Biotechnol 25, 473–477 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1291

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1291

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