Transcriptome analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana meiocytes by INTACT

In this work, we applied the INTACT-based approach to obtain purified meiocyte nuclei from the total cell pool of floral bud in Arabidopsis thaliana. To label meiotic nuclei we used the promoter of AtDMC1 recombinase. AtDMC1-driven expression of biotin-labeled NTF allowed us to collect meiocyte nuclei using streptavidin-coated magnetic beads. Expression of known meiotic genes was evidenced by RNA-seq analysis. In particular, meiotic nuclear mRNAs were found to be mainly involved, as expected, in early stages of prophase I, before the nuclear envelope breakdown. Finally, co-expression network analysis suggested new meiotic candidate genes.