Changes in the transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana after ethylene-mediated metabolic priming

We demonstrated that pretreatment of darkgrown seedlings with ethylene followed by removal of ethylene and transfer to light results in long-term increases in growth. Tolerance to abiotic stresses also increases. Correlating with these changes are increases in photosynthesis and carbohydrate levels. The goal of this transcriptomic analysis was to gain insights into the transcriptional changes that occur to cause these changes in growth and stress tolerance. Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings were germinated on agar plates with 1/2 MS-NS in darkness for 3 d in the presence or absence of 0.7 ppm ethylene. At this time, seedlings were transferred to light and ethylene-free conditions for 5 d. At this time RNA extraction was carried out. Three replicates of each condition were obtained.