Brassinosteroids modulate meristem fate and differentiation of unique inflorescence morphology in Setaria viridis. Setaria viridis

RNA-seq was performed to profile the transcriptomes of inflorescence primordia hand-dissected from the bristleless1-1 (bsl1-1)mutant in Setaria viridis compared to wild-type controls sampled under the same conditions. Bsl1 encodes a rate limiting enzyme in BR biosynthesis, which is the ortholog of D11 from rice. Mutants are characterized by a homeotic conversion of sterile bristles to spikelets in the inflorescence. Overall design: Inflorescence primordia were hand-dissected from bsl1 mutant and wild-type control Setaria plants at 15 Days After Sowing (DAS). Plants were grown together in a controlled growth chamber. Inflorescence primordia were pooled (~10 representative primordia per pool) into biological replicates (3 for wild-type and 2 for mutant). Transcriptomes were sequenced and compared for differentially expressed genes.