High-thoughput Illumina RNA sequencing to identify downstream target genes of RABBIT EARS (RBE) in the flowers of Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis thaliana

In order to identify putative downstream target genes of RBE, we sequenced mRNA from dexamethasone (DEX) and mock treated transgenic Arabidopsis line 35S:GR-RBE (RBE coding region fused to a glucocorticoid receptor domain driven by the constitutive 35S promoter) floral tissues. We compared the results from DEX and mock treatments and focused on the 832 genes whose expression was significantly reduced (P < 0.025) by 2-fold or more in DEX as compared to mock-treated plants. In this analysis, we identified MIR164c (EEP1) as a candidate target of RBE, which was further confirmed by other molecular and genetic analyses. Regulation of MIR164c by RBE is important for normal floral organ formation in Arabidopsis. Overall design: We used two biological replicates, each with two technical replicates for four hour DEX or mock treated floral tissues to produce 8 sequencing libraries.