RNA-sequencing analysis of wild-type and osvil2 mutant panicles

Oryza sativa VIN3-LIKE2 (OsVIL2) acts as an epigenetic regulator together with Polycomb Repressive Complex2 (PRC2), which mediates trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) on target chromatin. T-DNA mutants of OsVIL2 displayed abnormal spikelet development. To understand function of OsVIL2 during spikelet development, RNA-sequencing was conducted in developing panicles of wild-type (WT) and osvil2 mutants. Overall design: RNA-sequencing assays were performed to identify genes differentially expressed in osvil2 during early spikelet development. Two stages were examined: developing panicles in the length of 2 mm containing spikelets mostly at Sp4 or earlier, and developing panicles in the length of 4 mm containing spikelets at mainly Sp7 or younger.