Identification of changes in gene expression in seedlings of the ashh2/sdg8 Arabidopsis mutant

Mutation of the ASHH2 gene has pleiotropic developmental effects. The aim of the study was to identify changes in gene expression in seedlings of the ashh2-1/sdg8-1 mutant (SALK_065480, insertion in the gene At1g77300, SDG8/EFS/ASHH2) and look for correlation wth changes in methylation marks on histone tails. Wild type Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Colombia) seedlings were used as reference. For low-expresssed tissue-specific genes there was a correlation between reduced H3K36me3 levels and reduction in expression. Although some highly expressed genes with low tissue-specificity show reduced H3K36me3 levels in the mutant, expression levels were, however, not affeccted. Six biological replicates with 12 plants each both of Arabidopsis thaliana wild type (ecotype Colombia-0) and ashh2-1/sgd8-1 mutant (SALK_065480, insertion in the gene At1g77300, SDG8/EFS/ASHH2) were sown out on soil and grown under the following conditions; 22oC day and 18oC night, 16 hr day length with 30 min adjustment of light to on and off, and 85 μmol/m2/sek in light intensity. The inflorescences of each biological replikate were harvested in bulk from 30-36 days old plants at same time of the day (between 12:45 and 13:45) and at the same developmental stage in bulk.