Conserved miRNA discovery in switchgrass

Small RNA libraries were constructed, sequenced, and analyzed with our Sequence Homology Pipeline for miRNA discovery (Jeong et al. 2013) to identify 59 unique conserved miRNA sequences from 199 precursors in switchgrass. Overall design: Eight samples in total were analyzed. Three were tissue samples. The remaining 5 samples included drought and cold stress conditions along with controls. Switchgrass (AP13) was grown under greenhouse conditions with an average day temperature of 26°C and an average night temperature of 20°C. Stress treatments were carried out two months after propagation from cuttings and the second and third leaf blades from the top were sampled. Cold treatments at 4°C were performed for 24 hours. For drought experiments, the drought sample was harvested 11 days after watering was stopped. Plants subjected to recovery were then watered, and on the 12th day they were sampled.