Arabidopsis thaliana sRNA transcriptome of coilin and cbp80 mutants

Coilin is a marker protein for subnuclear organelles known as Cajal bodies (CBs), which are involved in various RNA metabolic processes including the biogenesis and maturation of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles. We identified eight coilin loss-of-function mutations in a genetic screen for Arabidopsis thaliana mutants showing either reduced or enhanced expression of an alternatively-spliced GFP reporter gene. In addition, we also identified cbp80 (cap binding protein 80) mutants in the same screen. Because CBP80 has previously been implicated in miRNA biogenesis in plants, we studied this in more detail by deep sequencing small RNAs in the cbp80 mutant and comparing the results to coilin mutants.