RNA-Seq of seed dormancy in red rice

Red rice fully dormant seeds do not germinate even under favourable germination conditions. In several species, including rice, seed dormancy can be removed by dry-afterripening (warm storage); thus, dormant and nondormant seeds can be compared for the same genotype. A weedy (red) rice genotype with strong dormancy was used for mRNA expression profiling, by RNA-Seq, of dormant and nondormant dehulled caryopses (here addressed as seeds) at two temperatures (30 °C and 10 °C) and two durations of incubation in water (8 hours and 8 days). Aim of the study was to highlight the differences in the transcriptome of dormant and nondormant imbibed seeds.